My favorite word--Free

Times are getting tougher and people are turning into penny pinchers. In times when business budgets are tightening, profits narrowing, supplies dwindling and savings evaporating; a lonely question sticks out of my mind—“Is there anything out there that is still free?” If you scour the whole country, you will be surprise to find free items just waiting for takers.

Yesterday, the largest free meal promotion I have ever known in my life was offered by Denny’s restaurant, which is one of the largest full-service restaurant chain in the U.S. The free meal promo was an instant hit because it did not have any strings attached to it. It was offered for just one day and the free meal was served from six in the morning until two in the afternoon. Fortunately, yesterday was my day off and so I drove to Denny’s after dropping my kids at their school. My wife was not able to go with me because she had to report to her work early in the morning. As I was parking my car at the Denny’s restaurant, I saw people rushing to get to the restaurant. There was already a lengthy line of people waiting outside the restaurant when I arrived in front of the place. At the door of the restaurant was a waitress who was writing down the names of people who wants to receive the free meal. After I gave this waitress my name, she made an announcement to everybody that there will be a 20 to 40-minute wait.

There are a lot of unhappy lines in this recession, but this line I was in was not one of them. Nobody complained while we stood in line in spite of the cold. One guy said, “A free meal in an economy like this? Man, this is sweet heaven!”

To my surprise, after waiting for just a few minutes, my name was called by the waitress. I immediately saw the faces of the people who were ahead of me in line change to an unfriendly stare as if I cut in ahead of them. I quickly zoomed into the restaurant to avoid their stares and was directed to a long table counter and sat on a fixed stool. I was told by the lady next to me that I was called ahead of everybody because I came alone and most of the people in line came in groups.

The free meal that is a breakfast special called, “Grand Slam” which is normally priced at $5.99. It contains two eggs, two sausages, two bacons, two pancakes crowned with a scoop of creamy butter and a cup of maple syrup for dipping. Anything that is extra like coffee or hash browns cost extra. After I was told that coffee costs $1.99, I decided to just get ice cold water. When the waiter gave me my free meal, I ate it down to the last crumb because it would be shameful to waste a free meal. The waiter seemed to be a hard working man and was mindful of the needs of the patrons whom he was serving. Because of this, I decided to leave him a tip.

You guys must be wondering what other free things that people can find out there during this recession period. Below are some of the things that I found that are still truly free without a catch in spite of the terrible times.

1. Freebie ads still shows up in online classifieds and weekly publications like Recycler.com, Craig’s list, Penny Savers, etc.


2. Tuition is free in public schools.
   
3. Free meals for students whose parents are enrolled in a low-income program.


4. Libraries are free.


5. Regular T.V. and radio programs are free to watch.


6. Certain cities offer free water-efficient toilet seats and shady trees to help its residents reduce their water consumption and cooling costs.


7. Free tax-filing assistance by Internal Revenue Service.


8. Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm amusement park offers free admission to birthday celebrants.


9. Food and lodging are free if you are a prisoner in jail.


10. Free food samples offered in Costco, Sam’s club and other large supermarkets.


11. Want a free fish? Oceans and rivers are full of them. Just throw a fish line.


12. Children gets the best deal around because they get everything for free from their folks...until they turn 18.

Though a number of free items still exist in this world, let us not forget that the things obtained through honest labor always have a greater value.

Are you really poor?

In the midst of this stormy economy, we should ask ourselves, “Am I poor?” A lot of people declare themselves as poor because they cannot afford the things that they desire in life. Are we really poor or are we just pouring onto ourselves an artificial goo of humbleness?

Do you consider yourself poor because you do not have adequate supply of a variety of material things? Do you say that you are poor because you do not want to come across as somebody who is immodest? It is my personal observation that people do not really know the real meaning of the word “poor”.

Different people with varied economic and intellectual status would have their own definition of the word “Poor”. But unless you are really poor, you will never know the real meaning of the word. Below are the indicators that would say if a person is really poor.

You know that you are really poor when:

1. The possibility of eating your next meal is uncertain.
2. The first thing that comes into your mind when you wake up is food.
3. Ice cold water tastes sweet.
4. Edibles can still be found in trash.
5. Selling your blood would enable you to buy food.
6. A cardboard box can turn into a warm shelter.
7. Your main source of income is sorting through trash in the city dump.
8. Sleeping on solid floor does not bother your back.
9. Potato leaves that grow along the road side can turn into a meal.
10. Any living thing whose back faces the sky is considered food.
11. You cry because you can’t feed yourself.
12. You stalk the tables of open-air restaurant to grab food left by its patrons.
13. Eating 1 meal a day is normal.
14. Food does not have to be clean for you to eat it.

Do you still consider yourself poor? Think again, my friend.