The "Gift with Purchase" Trap

I haven’t written since Tuesday because of one thing or another.  On Wednesday, I wrote a draft about a deer one of my neighbors has been feeding, but I didn’t want to post the story without her permission, so I waited until afternoon.  I don’t recall what happened that afternoon, but I didn’t get to finish the blog.  Which is why my ironclad rule is to finish my blog first thing in the morning, before I get distracted by emails or anything else. 

Then Thursday, instead of writing first, I ran some errands.  One of those crucial errands was to buy some makeup at one of those "GWP" (gift with purchase) deals.  My one indulgence makeup-wise is Estee Lauder foundation.  Otherwise I buy cosmetics at the drugstore or grocery store.  If there is a difference between their products and the department store brands, it’s not worth the 500% markup.  Anyway, the only place in town having an Estee Lauder GWP within the next two months was Nordstrom’s.  I marked it on my calendar, and the appointed day arrived, which happened to be Thursday.  So I put on my best T-shirt and my second best jeans and drove clear across town to Nordstrom’s. 

I ran the shoe department gauntlet without pausing, I’m proud to say.  Then I wound my way through a jungle of cosmetics counters to Estee Lauder and bought the foundation I came for.  I was absurdly pleased that they’d raised the price of a 1 oz. bottle of colored liquid from $28.50 to $36.50.  This meant the foundation was priced high enough to render me eligible for the “gift” without having to buy anything extra that I really didn’t need.  I’m fully aware that this is ridiculous, but there I am forking over my debit card.     

When I got home and examined my free gifts, I was disappointed to find that both lipsticks were orangey shades that would look ghastly on me.  And the eye shadow “quad” likewise wouldn’t work.  So the only usable items I ended up with were a couple of creams.  Was it worth it to spend half a day driving all over town just to get a “free gift” with purchase, which I mostly can’t use, plus miss my writing time?  No. 

To make matters worse, on the way home from my dispiriting shopping expedition, I stopped for lunch.  As I chomped into my Schlotzky’s, an electrifying pain shot from one of my lower bicuspids to the top of my skull.  Apparently, that cracked tooth my dentist has been warning me about for the last two years finally gave out. 

So the next day I showed up first thing at the dentist’s office.  It was a Friday, in the midst of the annual festivities that San Antonio calls “Fiesta.”  Yesterday was the Battle of Flowers Day, which means half the businesses in town shut down, and even the schools are closed.  The dentist's office was open only until noon.  Fortunately, he squeezed me in, and, not so fortunately, I underwent an emergency root canal then and there.  So there went my writing time for that day. 

And that is why I haven’t written for three days.