The treasure hunt

Sigh! No, this isn't the pirate's treasure we're talking about. I wasn't influenced by the movie 'Blue', trust me.

It all began when I got this innocent coupon for Macy's. 10$ off for a purchase of 25$ or more it declared- in red! The Christmas season sale is on, earlier than usual this time. Well, considering the fact Macy's is temptingly located right across from my subdivision could be viewed as a boon, at times. I drive past the place every day to get to work, to shop, to get chores done- well you get the point. It would be hard to not pass Macy's.

So the coupon said it was an early bird special. Valid only between 7am to noon on two working days- Tuesday and Wednesday. Now my long time readers should know by now, if ever the word early bird was to be coined, it'd have to be cos of moi. I mean no one else exemplifies the term better. So that part is pretty set. The master plan was to stop by on the way to work. Refer to the line about having to pass by Macy's everyday. Oh, btw, the coupon also said- 'Doesn't apply for preview sale on Tuesday'. Great!- Wednesday it would have to be.

Now we get to the way the mind plays games. 10$ off it screamed. If you find something for 25$ at minimum, you'll land yourself a steal at 15$. Worth it, it convinced the rest of the self.

Thus convinced, I landed at Macy's at around 7:15am on a Wednesday- I felt like a shopaholic. But nonetheless- I had already decided what I wanted badly. A pair of corduroy jeans. I found the Levi's aisle, tried a pair on and within 10 minutes I was set. As the saleslady at the counter scanned the item and the coupon, she goes 'Ma'am, I am sorry. This coupon isn't valid on Levi's'. She also generously pointed to the long list of excluded brands which I had conveniently dismissed on initial glance. 'What brands can I get then' I asked innocently. 'Ma'am, we've found it easier to just scan and determine if it qualifies or not rather than memorize what brands to not buy' she beamed.

Sigh! On to Round 2. I went back and spent the next 20 mins finding a pair in a brand that wasn't listed in the coupon. Fitting done, I went back to the counter. Same cycle of scanning item and coupon. This salesday declared 'Ma'am I am sorry this coupon doesn't apply. If the sales price ends in .98, those items don't qualify. Watch out for them!'.[I later determined half the store was full of brands that didn't qualify, the other half were prices ending in .98!!!]

Round 3, we're nearing 8am now and I am getting frustrated. Rinse, lather, repeat. I find another brand[which isn't on the list], the price doesn't end in .98[see where the treasure hunt part comes in?], it fits me somewhat and I believe we're good to go. This time at checkout, after scanning item and coupon- salesday goes 'Ma'am, I'm sorry but this was a preview item. The coupon doesn't qualify on those.'. As you can tell, I had had it. 'Ma'am is there a particular aisle I can go to and pick up items for which the coupon would qualify?' I ask in my politest voice.

'Oh, but Ma'am, we don't have those in one place. There are strategically placed all around the store, in various racks and aisles and brands. That's why we open the store at 7am. So people can spend time looking for deals.'

Thud![head hitting the sales desk]

Footnote : What did I do eventually? I went to the gloves and socks aisle and bought myself a pair of gloves and socks[which I probably didn't need, but I'm told you can never have too many of them, once winter sets].

Yup! I found my treasure.