WE ALL HAVE A DOH! MOMENT NOW AND AGAIN

I sway from the usual rant today just to reflect on one of those Homer Simpson, Doh! moments we all tend to have every now and again. They're never major happenings. Just minor moments in life when you think, man that's just annoying.

It was earlier in the week when the wife and I had decided it might be nice to catch a bite out to eat on Friday (that would be today, of course). She was at the kitchen table going through the coupon wallet, and taking out the expired ones to throw away.

"Hey, there's one in here for Red Lobster—$4 off two dinner entrees," my wife told me and tossed the coupon over to me.

"Oh, well, maybe we could catch Red Lobster Friday then," I told her.

She nodded, and then asked me when it expired. Doh! It would expire on Thursday. But no problem, I told her, we'd just go out to dinner on Thursday instead of Friday. It really didn't matter to me anyway when we went out to eat.

So Thursday came along, the wife got home from work, and she just wanted to change a bit before we left. As we were headed out the door to leave for the restaurant she asked me, "You've got the coupon?"

"Yeah, it's in my wallet. I put it in there so I'd be sure not to forget it."

We arrived at the restaurant, it would be a 25 minute wait for a table we were told, and they handed us one of those little vibrating things. Not too bad. We've waited longer many times before. If it would have been Friday like we had originally planned the wait surely would have been quite a lot longer. It's always like that at Red Lobster, you know.

So, like most people do we just ambled over to the bar and ordered up a couple of drinks. One Samuel Adams on tap for me a Malibu Rum and Coke for the wife. $9.50. Let me tell you, I'm in the wrong line of business. Drink prices are getting a little soaked.

Anyway, we finally got seated and the waitress told us about the fish specials and other particulars. We refreshed our drinks and before she walked away I said "Oh, by the way. I've got a coupon just so you know."

"Fine," the waitress said. "Just present it when you pay and I'll take care of it."

So we sat and talked, the wife and I. We ordered up one of the appetizers. It arrived and we ate it. Our salads came and we ate those. Then the main course, and we gobbled that all up. The waitress came by and asked if we wanted dessert, to which both the wife and I replied (clearly way too full already) no thanks, we'd burst for sure. And so she brought the check and I whipped out the debit card to pay. Waitress came and got it, rung us up, I signed and we headed for the door.

Hitting the cold Wisconsin winter air just outside the Red Lobster the wife remembered. "The coupon," she said. It was a statement.

Dammit. Yes, the coupon. I had forgotten it.

Sure, I could have gone back inside and had the waitress apply it. But it was only $4. Only $4—spoken like I have a couple million in the bank. And it would be time consuming. The place was still busy. It would be a lot of hassle for practically nothing. Instead I simply yelled Doh! in my head, and brushed it off as I walked to the car to get the door for my wife.