2013 grand national

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Reyes

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Jaitly

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Mukherjee

Mon national day 66th malaysia 2013

Myers

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Gutiérrez

01 Cobra vs Grand National Irwindale Dragstrip

Brown

Grand National Roadster Show 2013

Thomas

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Bennett

A good thing about today is that tomorrow is the Final Four.

Mori

1973 Grand National Aintree - Crisp

Hú

Loop grand national 2013 part4

Stewart

The Grand National, Aintree, Liverpool. 6 April 2013. Alongside cricket, a major part of British sporting culture http://t.co/UMOc3W7UMu

Lewis

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Pérez

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Kaneko

Grand National winner goes for glory at Carlisle http://t.co/sSSTYxrzwW via @CumbriaCrack #cumbria undefined

Bell

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Watson

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Azoulay

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García

DTN World News: Britain’s welfare state under threat: AS I write this, the Grand National at Aintree has just ... http://t.co/JHODb4B7vq undefined

Agnihotri

The photo at the end, I need that out fit! http://t.co/WKh2MR5lA4 undefined

Hé

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Davis

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Malik clan

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Endō

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Johnson

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Hebbar

2013 NWTF GNCC "Gobbling Division" - Nashville, TN (2-14-13)

Mizrachi

Le petit journal du Grand National - Concours complet - 1ère étape à Tartas

Rivera

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Smith

Grand National 2013 Betting Tips

Ortiz

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Agrawal

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Peretz

Mara Marich writes a regular piece called DREAMLAND (tm), published in Texas.

Reviewers have described Dreamland (tm) as Camille Paglia meets Erma Bombeck. Below is a reprint of her latest Dreamland column.

This is not a coupon.

A friend from Paris, France, came to visit this past summer. We pointed out all the good stuff. The Alamo, the wide open spaces, the longhorns lassoed by vaqueros and cowboys from south and north of the border - not to mention cheap gas and freeways that are actually free. O la la, the portions are too large, she exclaimed as the sauce from her ribs spilled down her Lacoste and the waist snap of her size 4 culottes popped. Though she responded with the appropriate ooohs and aahs to the sights she had already seen in les films du Sam Peckinpah, she couldn’t wait to return to our house to ingest the commercials on TV, while sipping her Sofia Mini Blanc de Blancs Singles (a.k.a $5 can of Coppola Californian candy wine). Her favorite ad? The Rooms to Go spot with the jingle “buy the room, get the TV”. “Superrrrb” she would purr, all Brigitte Bardot, pre-1966. According to her, they had NOTHING like this back in the old country. France had Napoleon, the Eiffel Tower, and cheese that moved - but only in America could you buy an entire room full of furniture and get a flat screen HD television for FREE. What courage!

Then it hit me. Despite the recession, the USA is still one great nation. We are yet to emerge from one of the longest slumps in history, yet somehow, we continue to buy, because it is our custom. We shop therefore we are.

But since credit is tight right now, how do, we the people, justify the spend, without the guilt? Simple. We live in a coupon culture.
It’s all about the ‘deal’. It could be ‘the deal of the century’ (luckily I’ve lived in two separate centuries), Thank You points (you’re welcome, Citibank), or the sundry supermarket and drugstore offers that spit from the cash register with every receipt. Often, an almost-gift arrives in the mail - the humble coupon.

The coupon is plain and simple, Willy Wonka’s golden ticket, the passport to continued domestic bliss. The coupon says, recession, what recession? The coupon is magical because it gives us permission to continue to shop through the rough times.

It’s not really spending, when you have a coupon. Bed Bath and Beyond is no longer retail when it’s discounted by 20%. Personally, I love coupons. A coupon equals a free ham (when I spend $100 at the supermarket), a free upgrade (when I rent a car for 5 days), 10% off half price books at Half Price Books with an educator’s discount (count it, a grand total discount of 60%!), a free frozen yogurt when I spend $10 at Orange Leaf. Coupons make us feel good and smart, kind of like we are continually making the deal of the century.

Heck, coupons are singularly responsible for the most important economic indicator there is - gross domestic pleasure. Never has so much been bought by so many for so little.

At our place, we have a large box overstuffed with coupons. When I find a particularly jaw-dropping deal, I scan it and email it to my French friend to rub it in. Though she may come from the land of existentialism and Coco Chanel, hers is a culture of the past. Our culture is rooted in the hope of finding the golden ticket - and with it, the hope for a once more golden future. Call me an optimist. I’ll keep shopping. My country needs me.

© 2013 Mara Marich, All Rights Reserved