The other day I spent a bundle at the fabric store. I am almost out of batting, and I had a couple of terrific coupons. It can take a chunk off the total, to have them. But it is possible to go overboard. 

 

My daughter used to work in a restaurant and one time a customer haggled over the senior discount on her bill. The woman thought it should be more. My daughter tried to be polite, and went over the charges, and yes it was true. The woman was due thirty three cents. Her plastic smile as the customer left in a self satisfied huff was rather forced. 

 

Years ago a friend was selling her house, and it had been on the market for a while. So they dropped the price. By five grand. How is it that I can get excited about saving forty dollars on a two hundred dollar purchase, and someone can let go of ten thousand smackers without crying? Well, maybe she cried. But in the context of a six hundred thousand dollar price, it was only .015%.

 

It happens with time too, which is its own commodity. I heard once that some cultures spend money to save time and others spend time to save money. Either way people can pinch their minutes with the same miserly grip as their nickels. 

 

I have adopted a new policy. If the wait I am being asked to endure is less than 1% of the total time, it is not worth making a fuss. Hence an inconvenience like letting two cars go ahead of me, which slows my trip by twelve seconds, is inconsequential in a trip that will take twenty minutes. Similarly if the overcharge is measured in dimes on an exchange that registers in Jacksons, I keep my mouth shut. 

 

There are other applications if I let myself find them. If someone I adore is annoying only 1% of the time, it behooves me to let it slide. Because who knows how the scores will settle when my life's goodness rests in the balance.