Do Not Discount This Post

            I view coupon offerings as barometers of the health of the economy.  The more discount coupons that are available, the less healthy the economy.  Recent offers indicate that the state of the economy’s health remains poor. Maybe that’s why the value of on-line coupon distributors keeps increasing, like the on-line enterprise called Groupon which is reported to be planning an initial public offering that would value the three-year-old online coupon distribution site at as much as $15 billion -- more than double what Google reportedly bid on the company last year.

            Discount coupons are everywhere, on-line, in newspapers and magazines, on bulletin boards, in snail mail bundles. I regularly received one such coupon collection in booklet form in the mail and am particularly drawn to look at the offers from restaurants.  Recent surveys show that more and more consumers are eating at home.  Last year U. S. restaurant sales grew only about two percent.  The forecast for next year is just one percent. So restaurants are giving their meals away. I live in Havertown.  The latest batch of coupons that caught my eye came from local restaurants in Havertown, Drexel Hill, Manoa, Broomall and Springfield. I’m sure you’ve seen the following offers or similar ones where you live:

             Szechuan Hill Chinese restaurant, $5 off any eat in or take-out order, min. $50; Shere-E-Punjab, $5 off any purchase of $25 or more; Giampino’s Cucina Italiana, $5 off check of $25 or more, not valid on lunch buffet, take-out, or Monday night  buffet; Hibachi, Free Entrée, Buy One get Second One of equal or lesser value Free, excludes Early Bird Specials, Lunch Menu, Lunch Specials, Monday Night Specials& All-You-Can-Eat Sushi.

            Restaurants are not the only businesses offering discount coupons.  How about building and remodeling contractors? Richard J. Egan Contractors Inc. offers $500 off any contracted project of $4500 or more. Or how about hair salons like Springfield’s Salon Bellissima where you can get $20 off a Brazilian Blowout and $50 off a Brazilian keratin treatment.

Newtown Square

’s  Physician Transformations has coupons for Laser Body Sculpting to Permanently Remove Stubborn Pockets of Fat and Tighten Skin.  Emptying pockets of fat does not mean you have to empty your pockets. With the corresponding coupon you can get 25% off Laser Body Sculpting, $500 off Fractional COP2 Laser resurfacing, 50% off a Laser hair Removal Package and a savings of $395 for a Dermal Filler (Jevederm or Radiesse). What those procedures are eludes my grasp.

            Perhaps the most soulfully rewarding and intriguing coupon offer I have encountered comes from Astrology By JD offering Spiritual Guidance Through Astrology, Yoga and Meditation.  The ad containing the coupon states, “If you are lost in any area of your life, I will help you find your way.” Astrology By JD offers many services including Healing of Body, Mind and Spirit through Chakra & Karma Cleaning, Never Failing Advice on Love, Money & Career and Past Life Readings and Regression. The coupon in the ad offers 50% off any reading.

            Of course Direct Mail companies like Macy’s and L.L. Bean sweeten their offerings by promising Free Shipping.  Hmmm. How about a combo discount coupon program that would provide me with healing of body, mind and spirit and ship me free to someplace sunny and warm?

Regime Change

            Flipping around the TV channels the other day I encountered scenes of protestors marching in the street under the barrels of army tanks, demanding independence and dignity and freedom. Shots were fired into the crowd and bodies fell.  Bombs were set off. For a time chaos reigned.

            The scenes were not of action in 2011from Egypt, Afghanistan, Iraq, Tunisia, Yemen or Jordan. They were from Algiers in 1960 as the Algerians struggled to overthrow French Colonialism. The scenes were from a prize-winning film made by Gillo Pontecorvo in 1966 called The Battle of Algiers.  It is a semi-documentary film depicting events from 1954 to 1962.

            The battle over eight years to keep Algeria part of France was largely waged by French paratroopers who told inquiring reporters that employing torture was not part of their orders, that they only used various “investigative techniques.”  It was very eerie watching scenes showing resistance fighters having their heads held under water, being hog-tied in chairs and suspended from ceilings and burned with blow torches as part of “investigations” seeking information. Despite depicting events of the mid 1950s-early 1960s the scenes looked like they could have come from Abu Gahrib or foreign CIA prisons in the recent past.

Former U. S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, a proponent of aggressive interrogation of terrorist suspects has just written a book justifying his actions and blaming others in the Bush Administration for failures. It is said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Rumsfeld, among others, must have been absent on the day that lessons about torturing suspects were taught.

And as I post this entry comes word that protestors seeking regime change have taken to the streets of Algiers.

My Mother has passed away

            My Mother turned 98 on February 3^rd.  Late the next afternoon she passed away. She’d been in decline since falling at home and breaking her hip two months earlier.  There’d been surgery, a stay in a rehab facility, an infection in the stitches necessitating more surgery, another stay in rehab and then back home with home health attendants to watch over her 24/7.  Her quality if life diminished rapidly and when the end came, as she napped in her own bed at home, it was quiet and peaceful.

            She led a good and full life working professionally for many years as an assistant to a real estate attorney while also dedicating herself for what seemed like her entire life to a fraternal organization called the Odd Fellows and their female counterparts the Rebekkahs.  She achieved statewide prominence several years ago becoming president of the New York State Rebekkah Assembly. She was devoted to her family, her friends and her other pursuits. My sister and I owe our organizational, writing and public speaking skills to our Mother.

            Life moves in cycles. Last week my Mother passed away.  Next week I’ll be in Brooklyn, New York to celebrate the “naming” of my Granddaughter, Gabriella Coco Amodio-Rosenberg, my Mother’s Great Granddaughter.  It’s an age-old story. Life goes on.