What Are People Thinking?

As you may have noticed I just love couponing. I love to take care of my family cheaply. I love the feeling of paying .04 for something that normally costs someone five bucks. I love getting to know my local cashiers and getting tips on how to save money better. I used to think that I loved everything about it.

But this last weekend, I stopped at Walgreens and my cashier told me a horrible story that happened to her last week which made me realize that I don't love all aspects of couponing. She said that a man can in with his wife and took the last of the Stayfree pads that were on sale for free with Register Rewards (there were about nine). There store has a policy of only 3 of an item per day and she told them that. Well the man couldn't take that for an answer and started yelling at her. She stood her ground and told him that he could come back tomorrow and get more. He was furious at her and called her the "B" word. Bought his 3 and left.

While she was telling me this I just kept thinking "what are people thinking?" How could anyone yell at this sweet older lady? This is what I hate about couponing. I hate hearing how other couponers treat the people that work at the stores. And the sad part is that I hear these kind of stories from cashiers all the time.

In my mind I view the cashier as someone who is just doing their job. They don't have control over the coupon policies, the prices or if your catalina prints out. They are often overworked and under paid but many of them have to work there to make ends meat.

It is so wrong for us as couponers to treat them badly just because we want a good deal. I know that there are some cashiers that really can have an attitude or just don't understand coupons but remember that doesn't give us the right to treat them without respect. If we want to be treated courtiously then they should get the same from us.

I am now going to stop focusing on those negatives, and encourage all of you to treat your cashiers kindly. Smile. Tell them thank you. Fill out a comment card for those cashiers that treat you well and tell corporate how great they are. And if they give you a hard time, just smile and roll with it. Don't get angry, don't call names, don't forget your integrity. We as couponers are better than we have been and I think that is time that we showed the casheir just how great couponers are.