Friday Coupon Fail

Well, folks, I've done it again--FAILED! :) I think this one would have probably been funnier to watch from afar than it was to live through, but, most of my fails are! :)

I was couponing on Saturday--trying to use my dwindling funds to procure the cheapest possible items at a local, but known-worldwide super store. I could NOT find the "Damp-Rid," though...rawr! I had looked everywhere I could think feasibly possible. It was ALL I lacked to make my money-saving purchases complete. I was tired, hot, and a smidge cranky. All I wanted was DAMP-RID, people!

So, I thought to trek back to the opposite side of the store where more "hardware store" type stuff was kept. I piled my coupons neatly on top of my little umbrella in my cart, so as not to confuse them with the other coupons in my wallet.

BAD IDEA.

As I walked up and down the more "manly" aisles, I decided to give it up and look elsewhere for said moisture-ridding substance. I glanced down to pick up my coupons--
but they weren't there. I started rummaging through my purse and wallet--not the panicky "I've-lost-my-keys-and-can't-remember-where-they-are-oh-my-word,-where-are-my-stinking-keys!" type search...but it was close. These coupons were my tickets to saving money, for pete's sake!

Then I looked down--there were 2 coupons on the ground. Only two. TWO. I had had probably 20 when I started out.

Oh.my.word.

I realized that my coupons had, little known to me, sought their freedom by hurling themselves downward from the cart--and for all I knew, they were scattered across the store and those manly items aisles.

RAWR.

So, I retraced my steps. Up and down the various aisles...back through the store...all the way back to the dish soap aisle where my trek 'cross the store had begun. As I walked, I looked down--under displays, in between clothes--even under feet!

I undoubtedly looked quite ridiculous. And...I found only 5 of my coupons. (Side note--the floor in the store? FILTHY. Not to mention I saw a little boy CRAWLING along the floor while his mom was looking at something and carraling her 2 other kids...NO, PEOPLE...store floors are DIRTY!!!)

Oh, great, I thought. Some selfish beast of a person is now walking around the store with a fist full of MY coupons...I started to retrace my steps again, looking at everyone's cart as I went---"Does SHE have items like I would have bought?" I wondered.

As I stood in the clothing section of the store for the third time that day, I realized the futility of everything and decided to put my items back for which I did not now have a coupon (I wasn't ABOUT to pay full price after all of THAT!) and head home. Needless to say, I was most peeved.

Grumbling under my breath about the length of the lines at said superstore (which, on another side note, if superstores are really so super, why.in.the.world! can they NOT hire enough people to check us out without us having to wait in line for 20 minutes?!--but that's another rant for another day...) I inwardly seethed that I had lost all of those coupons.

As I approached the cashier, I couldn't help but notice how overly thrilled she seemed to be working there---NOT. Besides being very pregnant, she was moving at near-death speed and scowling all the way. "I know how you feel," I thought. Boy, was I wrong.

Finally, my turn with "Miss Personality" came. I tried to be jovial enough, but I was still out of sorts about my coupon lossage. Then the guy behind me started talking to the poor lady.

"You don't look too happy today," he said. ("Way to go, Captain Obvious," I thought.)

She nearly teared up as she looked back at him.

"I lost my house 2 days ago. My husband and I can't afford the rent, so the landlord kicked us out. I'm moving tomorrow morning," she said, followed by a hard swallow.

"Doesn't your husband have his job anymore?" the man asked.

"Nope," she said. "He lost it. It's just my little paycheck here...that's all we got."

OUCH. Coupons didn't really matter any more.

Not only had I failed to look past my own unimportant needs to see the needs of others, I had mentally judged this woman and had written her off just because I was having a bad day.

Once again, the ugly side of my nature had risen to the surface. God chose to use a loss that I thought as "serious" at the time to put things into perspective and step on my toes a bit. I'm so glad He does things like that.

After I got to the car, I remembered that my housemate had duplicates of nearly every coupon I'd lost. So, really, the only thing lost that day was my compassion, patience, and love.

I guess it was a more serious loss than I had thought. :(

But God (I LOVE those two words!) used it for His purposes in my life--teaching me new lessons and impacting me beyond the moment. He's amazing that way.

Of course, I also learned to be more careful where I place my coupons in the store. :) And if you're ever out shopping and find a pile of strewn coupons lying about--don't assume they're free for the taking. Maybe other people are just as clumsy as I and need to learn a little lesson in humility, too.