COUPON ELF

For as much as I pick on Husband I have to tell you the other side of this very good man. Take into consideration that 90 % of what I tell you is just me being a bitch so fair is fair that I tell you about what a great guy he is when he is not pissing me off. (Also consider that I am leaving in 2 hours for 10 days with my friends up in NY so I am feeling very kindly toward poor Ger.)

Ger has become "King of Coupons" in our house. Our son Kyle is "Emperor of Coupons", Keri is "Princess of Coupons" and forget about Cousin Ann who is the world champion of all coupons and bargains. So you see Ger has a lot of competition in this field but he has developed his own special style of coupon cutting and use.

In the car we have 'THE ENVELOPE" which contains all the coupons that have been collected. They remain in the envelope in the car so that when we are out and about and feel the need for food we rummage in the bag and come up with someplace where we will get a great BOGO deal. Most of the coupons come from the paper, mailings and other local sources . . . EXCEPT for the mother load of all coupon deals . . . SILVER SLUGGER BASEBALL GAMES ! I've told you about our weekly minor league baseball games but I don't think I ever mentioned the perks. Each week there are coupons for Chick Fil A on the back of the game tickets. No biggie. But in addition to that, on the back of each FREE Game Day Magazine, there are coupons for Moes South West Grill. Normally we would go into the game and take ONE (1) magazine between us. These magazines are available all over the stadium and are left out for the taking. Once we (Husband) realized what a gold mine this was we have been collecting magazines by the dozens. There is only so much Moes we can eat so the extra coupons are put to good use.

Today was a Moes day. Off we went and upon our arrival 3 coupons are taken from the envelope. One for us and two for the COUPON ELF to dispose of as he see fit. There is an art to this madness and I can only tell you it is a joy to watch. I even have to admit I am being sucked in and allowed to be a Coupon Elf in training. As we enter the establishment Ger carefully cases out the joint. Who else is coming in? Who is already on line? Do they look approachable? Do they look deserving? A decision is made and Ger quietly walks up to the lucky couple and as he holds out the coupon to them he asks if they would like a coupon for their meals. It is great fun to watch the expressions of puzzlement, doubt, and "HUH" cross the faces of our targets. They usually shrug and say "Sure", figuring what the hell, what have we got to lose. Even if this guy is a nut case I'll just take the coupon to appease him and maybe then he'll go away. With that we continue on with our order and sit down to eat. Then within a few minutes one of the couple is at our table thanking us profusely for the great coupon. They have gotten to the cash register and found that this is the real deal and they have saved the price of a lunch.

Today's couple thanked us 4 times and Ger just gets the biggest kick out of this. It's only a coupon for for a couple of bucks but Ger feels like "The Millionaire" giving away his coupons. He gets such enjoyment from sharing the wealth that we are going to be lost when December 31 rolls around and all the coupons expire. Meanwhile, Moes will be celebrating that the Coupon Elf is now out of business.