Extreme Couponing
There was a dread in going to the grocery store. The look of fear when we approached, the knowing, and the wait all had me on edge. Maybe we'd finally be kicked out of the only grocery store worth going to. The one that carried not only my favorite brand of coffee, but also Craig's gluten free pizza he loved so much. But this was the shit I had to put up with for Craig's obsession. For he was an extreme couponer.
It started when Craig suddenly found himself out of a job. We had been living in our own bliss for three years when we had our first real financial bump in the road together. The sudden drop in pay led to Craig's depression. He felt useless next to me, even after knowing I had no problem supporting the both of us. Maybe it was the talk I had been doing about wanting a child. But in my mind that was a dream that could be put off the time being. I had only made him feel worse about his personal financial situation.
The lack of available jobs led to the growing attraction to the television. And that led to an interest in the TLC channel, where he grew especially fond of Extreme Couponers.
"Tweek!" I came home to him yelling one day, "Come here, quick!"
A bit frightened I rushed to our room where I found him sitting on the floor surrounded by newspapers, printouts, and a calculator.
What. The. Hell.
"Okay, so I found coupons for all your favorite fruits, coffee, and—"
I raised my hand, "Is this what you did all day?" I was in disbelief still.
He looked to the floor, covered in paper and numbers. "I wanted to help ease your burden," He mumbled. And it broke my heart.
I sat down on the floor next to him, hearing some bones crack along the way, and sighed. He could be so touching when he wanted to be. And I hadn't seen him with such a wide smile in months.
"So," I picked up his notepad, "tell me how this works."
And I saw his face light up with joy. He talked about his calculations and research for almost an hour before starting dinner. I was left with the overwhelming facts at hand. One being we could save a lot of money. And I was actually getting sucked into it all.
Sunday shopping was always something I dreaded. But now it was something I absolutely hated, feared even. I looked up at the sliding doors, people piling through unaware of what was about to happen. I sighed as Crag grabbed my hand leading me into the building. I yawned, following his lead, carrying our grocery list.
And he shopped. I leaned against the cart while he threw in items that I called out. "Don't forget the sauce," I reminded.
Craig frowned at me and I knew what he was probably thinking. He was probably reading up on some new crazy health fad. And something about homemade pasta sauce would be better. And maybe it would be, but I wasn't about to find out. I was tired, and worn, and had gone through this process week after week after week.
I sighed giving in, "Just let me get my cookies. I'll pay," I pleaded. And he nodded, knowing that those were my favorite snacks.
We finished the shopping which led to the line. And oh, how they dreaded our existence. I watched the interaction between Craig and the cashier with an apologetic look. The cashier made little to no conversation with Craig as he scanned our items. And then asked the dreaded, "Do you have any coupons?" And we did.
Craig always had coupons. He pulled them out from their organized place in his notebook. And we waited as each one was scanned. What would have been almost a hundred dollars in groceries easily dropped down to under twenty dollars, plus my four dollar cookies. I sighed as I paid for everything, looking over to Craig who smiled as he helped the bag boy. I thanked them as we left, cart full of stuff.
This was what made Craig happy. This was his comfort zone. Shopping.
Once we were home and everything was put away Craig made me tea. We sat in the living room watching TV, some 90s sitcom was on and I watched as my partner laughed to the same old joke he had seen numerous times. He wrapped his arm around me so I leaned onto his shoulder.
"I have an interview on Thursday," He said.
I looked up at him to find him looking at me.
"For a tech position at the new hospital near the mall," He grabbed the now empty tea cup from my hands and put it on the coffee table in front of us. "If I get it, which I will, I was thinking-"
"Yeah?" I interrupted. I couldn't help myself, I was too excited. This was the first time in months that Craig had even spoken of any possible work.
He placed his hand on my knee to calm me down, "If I get it," he continued, "I was wondering if you still wanted to have a kid."
I'm pretty sure my mouth dropped open, "You mean?"
"I want to-" Craig didn't have time to finish the sentence before I kissed him.
Arms wrapped tightly around him, I kissed down his neck and all the way back up to his lips. Because I knew that all this time I had been looking for Craig's happiness, he had been looking out for mine.
I always watch that dumb Extreme Couponing show on TLC and then I realized that all of these people that do it found themselves somewhere they didn't like and coupons helped them out. Like they were out of a job, they lost their significant other, or one lady used to be poor then found herself couponing for those less fortunate. I may have become obsessed with the show. And I thought who would be an extreme couponer? Craig! Of course he would. And so super boring story happened.