The other day I had a quick eye-awakening moment when I realized my age. At CVS, I noticed a sale on Diet Coke (four 12 packs/$10.00) and for me, a self-confessed “Diet Coke-aholic” who averages 7 12-packs a week, this was lottery-like, but as I turned the corner to the beverage aisle, it was clear other addicts had cleaned them out before I arrived. I went to the counter and asked for a rain check. “What’s a rain check?” said the bright-eyed teenager donning her crisp CVS red apron. Needless to say, older and wiser management eyes looked in upon my plight and off I went with my slip of paper. Three weeks later, I was back in CVS for a prescription when I remembered the rain check. Now the beverage aisle was stacked with boxes of my precious Diet Coke at a mere $6.98 per 12-pack. Scooping up four and tossing them into my little CVS cart, I arrived at the front counter to another bright-eyed young person who quickly rang through my charges. Fishing into my key case, I pulled out the crumpled rain check and presented it to again, surprise. After all, it’s a hand-written piece of paper, there is no bar code…what is a young person to do these days when there is nothing to beep? The saga ends well of course, with my Diet Coke purchased, two young people learning a bit of old fashioned commerce, and me, well aware I still like the days of old.
Well, in the case of Zebra, I hope you won’t ask for a rain check but will instead look inside and enter our annual Oscars contest, and enjoy the other features and news snippets from our community and schools.
Cheers,
Mary Wadland [Publisher’s Note: For those who are curious, the term “rain check” comes from baseball, where in the 1880s it became the practice to offer paying spectators a rain check entitling them to future admission for a game that was postponed or ended early owing to bad weather. By the early 1900s the term was transferred to tickets for other kinds of entertainment, and later to a coupon entitling a customer to buy, at a later date and at the same price, a sale item temporarily out of stock.]
