Do Couponers Have Bad Attitudes?

A new Ulta opened up near me last week, well not exactly new...just relocated. They held grand opening festivities by giving away coupons valued at $1, $5, $10, $25, $50 and $100 for the first 100 people through the doors each day.  Though, they were holding the event Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I was only able to attend on Sunday. Needless to say, I had high hopes of winning $25 or more.

So I went out on Sunday and got in line with the other hopefuls, the doors opened at 10am and I arrived just about 9:55. There were about 50 people in ahead of me...not too bad, so I had a shot of winning a coupon. When it finally was my turn to pick an coupon (they had the coupons folded in a container and customers could select their own and open it up to see the value), I grabbed a coupon, opened up to reveal a value of $5.

Sigh...

My initial reaction was not a happy one, after all there were others getting $10, $25 and I grab a lousy $5.  I must admit, I sulked for about 20 minutes! I thought to myself, "did I really get out of bed for $5?" I didn't purchase anything, because I was convinced I would have a lot more buying power. I browsed the store and left, my "puny" $5 coupon in hand.

Spoiled Brat Behavior...

As I was driving home, it dawned on me...why the heck am I upset? I left out the store with $5 more than I came. It's not like I passed up a meeting with a client or anything else that could have had a bigger payoff. If I hadn't of headed to Ulta, I would have still been sleep in my bed. And even with $5 there are a few items I could get for free, like Ulta nail polish which I do like a lot.  So what was my problem?  I concluded, that I was being nothing more than a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum because I didn't get what I wanted. That's not classy! Suffice it to say, I adjusted my 'tude and was just grateful that I won something!

Which brings me to...

I've seen a lot of bad attitudes by fellow bargain hunters, couponers, freebie addicts, etc... online. If a company offers a freebie and the servers crash or the freebie goes "too" fast and people can't get one, there are always those who leave negative comments. I've seen people get into arguments online.

As a matter of fact, Renuzit was giving away a free cone and people were just being extremely rude and mean because the application they were using to process the entries crashed.  I made a comment that basically said to relax and its ok, its just a $1 item. I made the comment to no particular person, but I had a guy come on my Facebook page with all sorts of mean and nasty words because of what I said. I mean he was just hateful, and I thought to myself all this over something that is $1? Something that isn't essential  So after a few exchanges with him, I realized how silly it looks and that I wouldn't engage him or his stupidity any longer and deleted and blocked him from my page.  Some folks are just crazy! LOL. I had no desire to spend any energy on that. There are real issues in this world, not getting a air freshener cone, ain't one of 'em!


But these are the attitudes that I've seen over very small and simple things. When Gillette Venus was giving away razors, I waited all day for one...literally glued to the computer. Of course, the 5 minutes I was not glued to my computer was when they gave it away!  I thought it was hilarious. Had I had something better to do, I would have certainly done it, but I was working so it was OK.  But I saw comments from people swearing not to buy anything from the company because they didn't get a razor.  REALLY?


It's not that serious

Of course, not everyone acts a plum fool. But I was really shocked to see these types of attitudes as much as I do. I hope companies don't stop doing these things because of people like that.

Getting upset over missing a freebie isn't worth the time or effort.  If you are missing important events in your life waiting for freebies to go live, you have to ask yourself is it really worth it. I know its not worth it for me to waste my energy upsetting myself over something I didn't get. Especially, if you didn't loose anything. I waited for the Venus razors, but never got one. But I have gotten others and I have plenty of razors (including Venus razors), so why be upset?

Have an attitude of gratitude. Bad attitudes do nothing but upset your spirit and throw off your balance. You can't attract good things if you're putting out negative vibes. Miss a freebie? Its OK! Don't win a giveaway? That's OK too! There are plenty that you will grab and other giveaways that you will win.

I don't want to be one of those people

In a heated exchange, Sheree Whitfield of the Real Housewives once said "who gon' check me boo?"  So I asked myself, if I have another "Ulta experience" how will I get a handle on it before I look like a nutcase?  And to that, I answer I am going to check myself. No sulking, no temper tantrums and no bad attitudes for me. It's not worth it. Getting free stuff is fun and it will remain so for me, whether I win, loose or draw.


What about you? What are your thoughts?