Deals just aren't what they used to be. Remember the days when a restaurant coupon was "Buy one dinner (and maybe 2 drinks) and get one free"? Like, say, last year? Now it's buy one, get one for $4.99, $5.99; something that isn't much of a deal at all. I'm not an economist, but I'm guessing that the driving factor behind these poor deals is the economy. They need to make money, too, and giving away free meals isn't going to do it. On the other hand, in such an economy, a person is less likely to take up the offer. Five bucks when it used to be free? No, thanks.
Now comes the worst deal I've stumbled across yet: Hometown Buffet charging for drinks. Sure, again they've got to make money, and this is a way to not raise the buffet price but still make money. Honestly, though, adding an Icee machine and a cappucinno machine to a formerly free beverage bar doesn't seem to justify the $1.79 (plus tax). Now you can blame me, we went there, we paid for the buffet and the beverage bar. On the other hand, I had a coupon the terms of which, incidentally, stipulated that one had to purchase the beverage bar to recieve the advertised price. What a deal.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
A Refugee, Slain
Coming from a war-torn country to America. You'd expect this story to have a happy, prosperous ending in the land of the American Dream. This story broke my heart. A family flees a war-torn country only to have a 15-year-old son gunned down in a drive-by shooting.
Parts of the story stuck out in my mind. "Many of them don't have dads, but [the refugee students] write about them as if they were still alive." Here are families who had dads, but they're dead, not dead-beat. Widows and orphans.
"All sought the roomy and cheap accomodations of the apartment complex. . .in a neighborhood that did not always welcome outsiders and is known for its violence." The refugees have struggles finding housing for their large families without credit or work history, so they take what they can get.
"Those close to [the victim] described him as the self-designated man of the house and an honor roll student sho talked of college and eventually going back to Eritrea to improve his home country." Here is the kind of person who wants to work to make the world better.
Why did it take a whole month for this incident to get front page press? You can put on your "Visualize World Peace" and "Coexist" bumper stickers, but until we face the realities of strife, we cannot solve it. This incident happened not "somewhere over there" but within my own metro area. Sure, it's easy enough for me to sit in my little suburban home and blog about it. Let it be known that my indignance is enough for me to sit here and blog about it. What will it motivate you to do? One person's motivation can be another's and another's and another's. I hope it will motivate someone to welcome a refugee instead of shooting them. Forget that which divides us and let's start living as people in a civilized country where we are above gunning down teenagers who fled warfare in an uncivilized country. I'd put that on my bumper sticker, but it won't fit.
Parts of the story stuck out in my mind. "Many of them don't have dads, but [the refugee students] write about them as if they were still alive." Here are families who had dads, but they're dead, not dead-beat. Widows and orphans.
"All sought the roomy and cheap accomodations of the apartment complex. . .in a neighborhood that did not always welcome outsiders and is known for its violence." The refugees have struggles finding housing for their large families without credit or work history, so they take what they can get.
"Those close to [the victim] described him as the self-designated man of the house and an honor roll student sho talked of college and eventually going back to Eritrea to improve his home country." Here is the kind of person who wants to work to make the world better.
Why did it take a whole month for this incident to get front page press? You can put on your "Visualize World Peace" and "Coexist" bumper stickers, but until we face the realities of strife, we cannot solve it. This incident happened not "somewhere over there" but within my own metro area. Sure, it's easy enough for me to sit in my little suburban home and blog about it. Let it be known that my indignance is enough for me to sit here and blog about it. What will it motivate you to do? One person's motivation can be another's and another's and another's. I hope it will motivate someone to welcome a refugee instead of shooting them. Forget that which divides us and let's start living as people in a civilized country where we are above gunning down teenagers who fled warfare in an uncivilized country. I'd put that on my bumper sticker, but it won't fit.
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