2023, Business, Food, Health, Movies

Discounted

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To make that cauliflower salad I needed hazelnut oil.  Not something I have sitting on my shelf.  And, it turns out, not something that is all that easy to find.  That’s how I ended up at my co-op (well, technically one of my co-ops… I have three different memberships) on a Tuesday morning.  Although I can do errands whenever I want these days, I do find that I still end up with a lot of errands on the weekend.

The cashier at the co-op was a nice young man and when I checked out he very gently asked if anyone in my household was 50 or older.  I laughed, pointed at myself and said “just me”.  Apparently Tuesday is Senior Discount Day at the co-op.  The discount was just enough to offset the ‘round-up’ that I always do when I shop there.  As I was getting back into my car, I laughed a bit to myself thinking that they’ve probably had store-wide sensitivity training about asking folks if they are old enough for the senior discount.  Maybe the “is anyone in your household” question was born there. 

Aging, while not always the most fun I’ve had, isn’t a problem for me on principal.  One of my favorite movie quotes is from People Will Talk with Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain.  He plays a doctor and one of his elderly patients laments that it’s no fun to get old.  Cary Grand replies “It’s even less fun if you don’t get to be old.”  

The first time I got the senior discount was when I was 50, at a miniature golf course in Hayward, Wisconsin.  It was listed on the price board and I asked for it.  The second time was at Perkins when I turned 55.  After that, I went home and sent my mother a sympathy card for having a daughter old enough to get the senior discount.

So the cashier didn’t need to pussyfoot around me about a senior discount.  I’ll take any discount that anyone if willing to give me for having survived this long!

Do you get any kind of discounts?

35 thoughts on “Discounted”

  1. It’s one thing to qualify for senior discounts. It’s quite another to be referred to as “elderly”, which happened to us a couple of years ago as we were being directed to a parking spot (presumably one that required less walking) at an apple orchard. To top it off, the man doing the directing looked not much younger than we are.

    Our local garden center offers a senior discount. I don’t know why, exactly. Other than that our main use of the senior discount is when buying tickets at museums and the like.

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  2. Rise and Pinch Your Discounted Pennies, Baboons,

    Recently we have been offered discounts on a new car through Costco’s AutoProgram. Years ago we purchased our Honda Pilot that way and found it to be valuable. The discount amounts to nothing at all though, this time. We are ready to purchase a hybrid vehicle. But you can not get one unless you put $1000-$1500 down and wait 18 months. Yes, really.

    So our battered Ford Escape, on its last wheels, will have to do for now while we decide how to proceed.

    Last.Day.of.Work. 🙂🙃

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  3. When my father was in his late 80’s, he would give rides to appointments for “the elderly” through a senior volunteer program.

    I get “the State rate” for hotel rooms in ND as a State employee.

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    1. Your story reminds me of Bill Holm’s “Music of Failure” (one of my absolute favorite essays, HIGHLY recommended), in which an elderly lady says of people a decade or more younger than her “They’re getting up there and can’t get around so well anymore.”

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  4. I’ll take AAA or AARP discounts when traveling. I don’t go out of my way to look for senior discounts. If someone offers, fine. If not, fine. Oh, I guess I’ll ask for the discount if the menu or price board shows a discount (like in movie theaters).

    I doubt I’ll ever consider myself to be elderly no matter how long I Iive. To me, “elderly” is a state of mind.

    Chris in Owatonna

    **BSP** “Little Mountain, Big Trouble” book launch party tonight at the Owatonna Public Library, Broadway and Elm, Owatonna. 6:30 pm start. For the first time at a book launch, I’ll have a drawing to give away a few free copies. You must be present to win. 🙂

    Also will appear at Sweet Reads Books in Austin MN on Saturday, July 29, 11-2. It’s one of the coolest funkiest bookstores I’ve ever been in. The owner, Lisa Deyo, is a huge champion of local authors and a loving force of nature. It’s always a treat to visit her store. **END BSP**

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  5. I turned 55 earlier this year, so I will have to start asking about senior discounts. My hair is getting quite grey but my face is apparently fairly young-looking (being a book geek who avoids sunlight, is allergic to smoke and prefers coffee to alcohol has definite benefits!), so no one has offered yet. My housemate/bestie is older than I am, so I’ll have to remind her to ask as well. We always assume discounts are for 65+, but obviously that’s not always the case.

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  6. YA and I purchased all our State Fair tickets ahead of time, so we got a little discount there. There are a couple of Senior Days where the discount is a little better but you can only get that discount when purchasing your tickets at the gate. I’m not standing in that line…….

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  7. I do the tuesday movie discount just about every week and get in for either five dollars are 550 depending on which theater I go to
    senior discounts not so much

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  8. I don’t seek out senior discounts but I will use loyalty rewards programs, AAA, and AARP.

    They have senior discount days at the Goodwill store but I always forget which day it is and it’s Goodwill so I’m not spending too much anyway. There is also a senior discount every day at Firehouse where I buy wine. Smiling young men look at me and ask politely if I’d like the senior discount today. Well of course! Thank you!

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  9. OT: Regarding yesterday’s post about impulsive buys. I impulsively ordered new shears and a new curtain rod from Wayfair for over my patio door. The curtain rod hasn’t come yet but the shears came yesterday. I opened the packages and put them up. I loved them! They’re really going to look nice when I get the rod that goes over the top and put it all up properly. Then I noticed a small brown spot near the bottom of one of the panels. I looked closer and found more small brown spots, then two small brown clumps! I couldn’t identify the clumps without touching it so I donned gloves and picked one of the clumps off and looked closely. Mouse poop. No kidding.

    So the curtains came down and went straight into the washer. I spot-treated them first. They came out perfect. But Wayfair is going to get a little update on their review about it.

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  10. I earned the Drivewise good driver discount from AllState. No speeding. No hard braking. No cell phone use. They should call it Drivewuss because I now am a wuss in my car.

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  11. I can’t think of anything new to add – my discount activity is almost identical to Chris’ first paragraph.

    OT: I too was saddened by Sinead O’Connor’s death; although I didn’t follow a lot of her music, I was strangely moved by this piece about Ireland. Click the CC box to see the lyrics.

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  13. If I knew how to do fancy graphics, I’d be inserting a bunch of cupcakes, glasses of Champagne, and fireworks here. Congratulations, Jacque. Let the god times roll, or as they say in New Orleans, laissez les bon temps rouler!

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  15. I am now old enough for the State Fair discount, but like VS I don’t want to have to stand in line at the ticket booth.

    Senior discount days are Mondays at the St. Vincent de Paul store, Tuesdays at Savers, and Wednesdays at Goodwill. At the neighborhood grocery store it’s Monday through Wednesday.

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