Friday, October 23, 2009

"Did you ever...?" (Junk Mail)

Did you ever…?
by Melech

Did you ever really read all the junk mail and coupons that you get? I usually just scan them and chuck them in the bin. Last week I took the time to read and examine all the junk mail I received.

The first coupon to catch my eye was advertising tires at an amazingly low price. It was time to buy tires for my car anyway, so I thought I’d check into it. When I got to the tire shop I was informed that the sale tires were only for cars built during the second week of June of 1948 on a tiny island in the South Pacific where they do nuclear testing. With a sad sigh of resignation and defeat, I crumpled-up the coupon, stuffed it in the salesman’s mouth, and left the shop.

The second coupon I came across was one for ten percent off on a package of generic lemonade that was guaranteed to hurt my kidneys, harden my liver and give me a headache and stomach cramps. I threw that one away immediately.

When I found a coupon for half-price on any size pizza with one ingredient, I was sure I had picked a winner, so I called and ordered a small pizza and told the lady who answered the phone that I had a coupon. It was uphill from there on.

“Do you want sauce on it?”
“Yes, of course I want sauce on it.”
“O.K., that will be £1.50 extra. Do you want anything else on it?”
“Well, I wanted cheese, but….?”
“That’s another £3.50 extra.”
“Miss, the coupon states half-price on any size pizza with one ingredient. What is the one ingredient?”
“The crust. Now is this for pick-up or delivery?”
“For delivery if it’s….”
“There is a £6.75 delivery charge plus the tip for the driver, so your total will be
£32.85 cash only. Oh, I forgot to ask; do you want this baked? If you do, that will be another £5.00 oven fee.” I hung up the phone without responding and deposited the coupon in the trash bin.
The rest of the coupons were pretty much the same. Grocery coupons usually expired whilst I was waiting in the checkout line. Coupons for 15% off only applied to items that were out of stock and discontinued.

I was walking back to the house after disposing of all the coupons and junk mail, when my neighbour, Bing ran up to me and asked me if I had seen the coupon for the big sale on tires. I snatched the coupon from his hand. It was the same tire shop I had been to. I crumpled it up, stuffed it in his mouth, and told him to go in the house and not speak to me unless he could do so without mentioning coupons or sales. I haven’t seen him since. Yesterday, I heard that they had to call the paramedics because Bing was choking on a coupon. He’s O.K. now, but he said that he didn’t ever want to speak to me again.

Today, when I was talking to my sister on the phone, I mentioned that I was going to buy a new mattress and box spring for my bed. She told me that there was a really big sale at…….I interrupted her before she could finish. When I asked her if she would mind holding on to that sale paper until after I had bought the mattress and box spring, she hung up on me.

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“Did you ever…?” is a weekly newspaper column by Melech
©Copyright 2009 by Melech. All rights reserved
The next column will be posted on October 30, 2009
File#RBCOL12

2 comments:

  1. Isn't that the way it always is with coupons and sales?!

    Now, I found this really great deal where you could get $4,900 back if you traded in your old clunker....

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love sales coupons, They make it seem so ... YES ITS YOURS !!! 50% OFF NO WAIT 75% OFF BUT WAIT THERES MORE !! BUY NOW AND WE WILL CHUCK IN THE KITCHEN SINK THE WIFE AND THE KIDS AND THE FREE BONUS OF A PET ! YOURS FOR ONLY.... WAIT FOR IT.... £3999.99 PAYABLE IN MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS OF £500.00 OVER A PERIOD OF LIFE ! * DISCLAIMER * Money paid back differs from sale price and will result in fixed terms amounting to no less then £25000.00 pounds !

    * bastards * !

    The best ever is DFS Come to our free champagne celerbration launch and get a free glass of bubbly on us !!!!! Tuesday 3pm.

    Very little writing at bottom, Champagne free with every sofa bed chair bought in store !!!

    ReplyDelete