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.
- Freebie ads still shows up in online classifieds and weekly publications like Recycler.com, Craig’s list, Penny Savers, etc.
- Tuition is free in public schools.
- Free meals for students whose parents are enrolled in a low-income program.
- Libraries are free.
- Regular T.V. and radio programs are free to watch.
- Certain cities offer free water-efficient toilet seats and shady trees to help its residents reduce their water consumption and cooling costs.
- Free tax-filing assistance by Internal Revenue Service.
- Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm amusement park offers free admission to birthday celebrants.
- Food and lodging are free if you are a prisoner in jail.
- Free food samples offered in Costco, Sam’s club and other large supermarkets.
- Want a free fish? Oceans and rivers are full of them. Just throw a fish line.
- 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.
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