Or: Why "couponers" are ruining the grocery store for me. 

One of the best things that ever happened to my mother was my turning 16 and being able to drive without adult supervision in the car. Now most parents dread and fear this day because they are turning their teenagers loose on the world behind the wheels of a 1500 pound projectile. My mom was excited because it meant that she no longer had to go to the grocery basically ever again. At my house growing up we usually were at the grocery every day for something or another. As a result of all these mandated trips to the grocery I have grown to really love going there (even to this day). I enjoy cruising the aisles, checking out the produce, and thinking about possibilities of things that I can cook. I've discovered lately that there is one thing that can bring the joy of the grocery to a grinding halt...COUPONERS. 

Couponers are those people who ravenously search sites for coupons from all manner of places and then use them at the stores (many times not at the stores they actually come from but play upon the policies many stores employ of "accepting competitors coupons"). These are the same people who will spend $10 in gas to drive to 4 different places to get things they have coupons for (not realizing its a wash when they factor in the money spent on gas) and these are also the people that "coupon clubs" and gatherings dedicated to helping one another find all these values. I kid you not that last spring at my church they had a Wednesday night "coupon class" to teach people how to do this. 

Now let me be clear on something. I have no problems with the principal of saving money. When we shop we try to buy things on sale and try to use store brands when possible. Publix store brands are usually outstanding but there are times when store brand just doesn't cut it (dishwasher detergent being near the top of the list). We are not growing money trees out behind our house and using them to start our fires in the winter time so believe me when I say I recognize the value of saving money. 

The problems I have with "couponers" are things like carrying their entire giant filing cabinets of every coupon they've ever laid eyes upon while aimlessly wandering the aisles of the store like crazed nomads searching a map for a destination that isn't to be found. These people show up at the store without a plan that goes any further than "hey I've got a bunch of coupons now let's go buy some stuff." They wander the aisles and just stop in the middle of them as they leaf through their coupon trapper keepers in search of .05 cents off of something they wouldn't normally buy anyhow but by golly they've got a coupon so they are going for it. These are the same people who when it comes time to check out they wait until the very end of the cashier scanning all the items and then just hand them a stack...a STACK I say (stack = unorganized, slightly wadded up) of coupons, many printed on home computers that ran out of ink two weeks ago. The best part of all of this is the split second the poor little casier (usually a painfully shy high school student whose parents have forced them to get a job) says anything remotely resembling "this coupon isn't accepted" that is the time that all hell breaks loose. These people get so mad and take it so personally and then start causing a stink and making the line and everyone waiting in it completely miserable.

So in summary:

I have no problems with saving money, I try to do it as much as possible. I don't think its too much to ask for a little pre-planning and organization on the behalf of the coupon folks to not gum up the works for the rest of us that just need to pick up a box of diapers, a gallon of milk, and a pint of Publix Moosetracks Frozen Yogurt (SO GOOD!!). And finally and probably MOST OF ALL...please don't be rude to the people who work at the store, and please be aware of the people around you and ask yourself is it really worth fifteen cents to make the 5 people in line behind you wait 10 minutes while you force the cashier to scan the coupon, scan it again, berate them for not trying to take, tell them (not ask politely) to put it in manually, then pout and demand to see a manager. A little common courtesy goes a long way. Alright I'm done now.

PS - If its past the date on the coupon its NO LONGER GOOD, please don't try to use it and then bully the cashier into taking it. That's just not nice.