AuburnChick's Adventures

Ok all…I’m about to vent, and then I’ll change my “Thanks, Not Cranks” bracelet over to the left arm.

Now, I’m all about Sundays.  God instructed us to observe the Sabbath, and I do try hard to.  My kids are supposed to do their chores on the other days of the week, and I usually sit around and knit on Sundays.

But the first thing that happens is church.

Oh, how I love my church.  I love the music, and our pastors pass along very good messages.

I’d love these things more if people didn’t talk during them.

Begin Complaint #1.

Please tell me if I’m alone in this, but am I the only person who thinks it’s rude for people to talk after the singing begins?

I mean…music is very important for me in a worship service.  It helps me focus my thoughts and adoration on God (where they need to be).

After an especially long week, I needed this morning to regroup.  I got caught up in the music…and then I heard two people having a conversation.

And it wasn’t short.

It was long.

Now, you can try to tell me I should have tuned them out, but it was really hard.  I work with teenagers, and I can mostly tune them out, but that’s different.  Even they know (most of the time) the appropriate time to talk.

Ugh.

Even worse than talking during the singing is when people talk during sermons.

I rarely, if ever, have encountered this situation…until this morning.

I can understand that the pastor might say something that would cause you to nudge your neighbor and say something like, “I do that too.”  However, the two people sitting beside me talked…and talked…and talked.

Then they would stop.  I would try to gather myself and figure out what the pastor had been talking about.  Just as I found myself able to follow the pastor’s train of thought again, the people sitting beside me started another conversation about his newest comments!

Ugh.

I seriously considered leaning over and saying something, but I didn’t want to make a scene.  I kept wondering if it was just me being over-sensitive.

I don’t think it was.

I considered saying something after the service was over, but I don’t think God wanted me to, because they left during the singing that we did right before we were dismissed.

My point in this rant?

Have a little courtesy.  If you are sitting in a gathering where there’s a speaker, close your lips and listen.  Maybe you’re not interested.

Ok.

Do those of us who are interested a favor and maybe think about nodding off.  Or nod your head like you are listening and make your grocery list in your head.

Or better yet, pass notes to the person beside you.  At least you’re not speaking out loud.

Ok…Complaint #1 over.

Time for Complaint #2.

Leaving church with that in my head, I headed to Walmart to buy two Sunday papers.  You know that I buy two of them because I want two sets of coupon inserts.

For the last two weeks, my paper has only been carrying one insert…either the Red Plum or the SmartSource.

Not cool.

I trucked myself down to the newspaper office last week and demanded (um, yeah, that’s what I did) my missing set of coupons.

I was rudely informed that coupon inserts are only guaranteed to home delivery subscribers.

Say what?

So, because I cannot afford to subscribe to your paper but am buying one at the newsstand, you’re going to punish me by charging me more for the issue as well as keep part of the paper from me?

Not kosher.

I was not a happy girl and told the woman that I’ll probably subscribe to a way-out-of-town paper that promises I can have whatever I want.

Except that I don’t have the money yet.  Cause I can’t find a job.

Sigh.

This morning, while at Walmart, I opened up the papers before buying them…just to make sure I was getting the two inserts promised.

I only found one.  For the third week in a row.

Well, fully irate, I marched back to the greeter, informed her that I was not buying the papers because they were missing inserts (which I don’t blame Walmart for, but I didn’t want her to think I’d read the paper and put it down without paying for it), and I walked out.

I started coming up with a plan on how I was going to write this and that letter and call this and that person.

What I wound up doing was driving to Books a Million, hoping that it would carry out-of-town papers.

They carried the New York Times (no coupons) and my local paper.

On a whim, I opened small-town paper and guess what I discovered?

TWO COUPON INSERTS!!!

Say what?

This made no sense, but I live in Podunk, USA, where we tend to do things backward, so maybe it makes perfect sense.

I walked myself and two papers to the cash register, where I used my frequent buyer card to save money on the papers, spending less on them than I would have at Walmart.

I felt smug as I walked out.

I beat the system…this week.

I am still plotting, though.

Phone calls will be made.

Belts will be tightened (even more than usual) as I try to figure out how I can subscribe to an out-of-town paper, receive my coupons, and kiss the local one goodbye forever.

Ok.  Complaint #2 over.

Do I sound grumpy?

Yes.

Why?

Because I’ve mostly eaten soup all week because I still have two holes in my mouth, and I just finished Prednisone (which is a moody sort of medicine), and when I try to eat, my tummy hurts.

Really, though, all I wanted was quiet (church sermon) and coupons.

Am I being greedy?

Happy Sunday all!  😀

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: church, couponing, courtesy, newspapers |