Restaurant.com

Perhaps you know about of Restaurant.com.  Perhaps not.  Maybe you have only heard of it, and you wanted to get a first-hand, independent account of it before you tried it.  Regardless, these are my thoughts on it in my limited experience with it.

In short, if you're an extreme-couponer, my advice is: "there's nothing to see here."  At most, you reap a 50% discount, and that is only if you manage to get free eGift Cards one way or another (either from their companion site or as an incentive for listening to a sales pitch).  It isn't a bad deal, but it is not as good as it seems at first glance.

If you're an ordinary bargain hunter, then it's the most confusing way to save 30% at select restaurants.  Again, it isn't a bad deal, but the limitations and requirements will quickly mask the benefits to the point you could feel as though you are just breaking even.  Additionally, the price ranges can be difficult to obtain eating solo, but if you are dining in groups of two (or more), then it would become increasingly easier (albeit, it may quickly reduce the savings from 30% to under 10%, but as long as $20 is $20, it's not a bad deal).

If you're a bon vivant, then this may be a great site for you to research different restaurants and then explore new places to indulge your appetite for variety.

As long as you are within a major metropolitan area within the United States, there are several restaurants at which your certificates can be redeemed.  While it is only a small fraction of the amount of restaurants overall, I think it would be a decent way for restaurateurs to differentiate themselves from others and easily gain exposure that they would not have otherwise had.

I don't know the benefit to the restaurants themselves, but I imagine it cannot be any worse than advertising anywhere else.  I am tempted to research it further and ask around.  I have not done so yet, but I will add additional information if the opportunity presents itself.

Overall, a lot of the website itself was smoke and mirrors.  The "Specials" tab will propose unbelievable deals, but then if you crunch the numbers and alternatives online, you may quickly realize that the core definition of "unbelievable" simply identifies something as not believable.  These deals are rarely at face-value.  But if you are good are reading fine print, then you may find very impressive deals that may satisfy even an extreme-couponer.

On one strong note, I found the use of the certificates to be very easy and a lot more flexible than coupons or other gift cards.  Initially, I bought a $5 certificate to a sports bar near me for $2.  Upon further research of the menu itself (i.e. realizing that I would have got a mushroom swiss burger, and Jack In the Box currently has its amazing Portobello Mushroom Buttery Jack, so there was no way I'd be spending more on a burger elsewhere, even if it were as good or better). Realizing my faux pas, I saw that the option of swapping out my certificate for a credit on the website could be done.  It was as easy as it should be; you just had to verify that the voucher had not been spent and then your account was given the balance of the certificate, which could immediately be used to purchase another voucher at a different location, which I did.

In terms of gifting, I would be very cautious.  Initially, I wanted to give my mother a handful of certificates for Christmas, but then I immediately feared that the gift would have amounted to a little more than a half-dozen coupons to restaurants.  There is a good chance that the recipient of such gifts may feel that way exactly.  It may be safer to gift a e-Gift Card than the certificates themselves.

... And Then, There Was Another Time

Being older & wiser is fun, especially when realizing how many stories you have that could have (or should have) potentially ended in your death, but at the time, you were too young & dumb for the pieces to fit.

I had a moment like that this evening when I heard a firework display -- or perhaps a shooting spree.  I immediately went on the defensive in case any stray bullets were in motion.  Then I peaked out my bedroom window, where I saw that Scottsdale Stadium was lit up.  I imagined they were having an event for which fireworks were apropos.

I got on Facebook messenger and asked a friend of mine in the area whether he had heard the same thing, and no sooner than I hit send when another round started.  A few minutes later, I started hearing police sirens.  Eventually, curiosity got the best of me and I called the police to see whether their lines were busy.  They weren't, and I went through immediately to a representative.

I asked her whether the stadium had a firework display, and she said that there were no authorized displays tonight -- but police were tracking some activity.  She asked me what I knew, which wasn't much except for the exact minute that the second round started, and then I hung up.

It reminded me of another age ago when I was at my friend's gig down in Tempe on Scottsdale Road and Curry.  The venue is an apartment complex now, but long ago, I was hanging out there for his gig and chatting with some fellas either from that gig or total strangers.  We were outside for reasons since forgotten, and a car drove by firing bullets into the air.  People ran for cover, which the guys and I thought was weird.  I mean, obviously, he was there to scare one person and send a message -- and it certainly wasn't to us.

It wasn't until Shannon's Law became a news item that I acknowledged the actual danger from which people were running.  And it was not until tonight that I said to myself, "Duuuuuuuuuude, you just stood there?!  What is wrong with you?!"

That was the biggest non-event of my life that I'm now realizing was potentially a big deal.  Although I am aware that I may be over-romanticizing it a bit nowadays too, like retirees who remember life as "the older I get, the greater I was."  I had told my friend whose gig I attended about the drive-by shooting (or drive-by firing?), but I don't think I mentioned it again.  Not for fear, but merely because I did not consider it a topic of conversation.

Of course, now I'm having the same reaction as other people do when I talk about growing up with tornadoes in Oklahoma.  It was no big deal to us.  I mean, we knew what to do in case of an emergency and our parents certainly took it seriously, but there were also enough people who would just stand around and watch the damage.  I remember watching one tornado in particular tear up the local university where we had an especially good view -- considering we were a mere half-mile away.

I feel as though that comparison is apples to oranges.  I do not have any fear of tornadoes now (being as I've been living in Scottsdale, Arizona, for almost past 20 years) as I do looking back on the drive-by from yesteryear.  However, the comparison was drawn because there are plenty of people who have either had different experiences with tornadoes or no first-hand experience with them (so they defer to films like "Twister" for an education) that freak out as if I were crazy to sit back and watch the tornado in the same fashion that I watched a car drive-by firing live rounds from a gun.

I cannot criticize people for getting their education from movies.  After all, the main reason I wasn't scared of that guy firing in front of me was it didn't sound the same as guns I heard fired in the movies.