The problem with flyers

. . . Is I want to buy every good deal I see advertised. For the first time this week in five months I received a flyer package. Two months ago, I blogged about the problems I’ve experienced in getting flyers delivered to my front door. After two initial phone calls, one to the flyer delivery company and another to the Ottawa Citizen, I thought the problem had been solved. But no flyers. The flyer conspiracy continued until this week. Although I’d been dragging my butt in trying to track down the reason why I wasn’t getting flyers, it looks like the problem has been fixed.

I forgot how tempting it is to look through flyers. There are a bunch of 40 to 50 per cent off coupons for Michaels that I want to use. Not too sure what I want to buy (likely yarn), but with a deal like that, I need to buy something. It would be foolish not to. Canadian Tire has large measuring cup-like batter bowls on sale. I’d like to pick one up as I miss my Pampered Chef batter bowl that I broke months ago. And cutting boards are on sale, too. I’m finding that with a toddler in the house that you can’t have too many cutting boards as it is seems like I am always cutting fruit and veggies for darling daughter. Toys R Us has a sale on playhouses. I’d really like to get one for darling daughter, but our backyard is only so big and we already have a picnic table and water table for her. Another problem associated with flyer delivery is now I actually have to meal plan. I fell off the meal planning wagon two months ago and I haven’t been able to get back on. With the flyers now being delivered to my door, the excuse of not being able to look at what is on sale no longer applies.

So here’s hoping this flyer trend sticks and is not a one-off. I forgot how much I like to browse through flyers.

Flyer conspiracy solved

One of my late grandfather's favourite tasks of the week was going through the weekly flyers. As a teenager, I didn't have the desire or time to pursue the flyers for potential deals. But my grandfather did. He'd regularly stock up on cans of beans, cans of salmon, boxes of Shreddies and anything else that he'd consider at a good price. "You'll never get it at a better price," he'd tell my grandmother while searching for bargains.

I have a love/hate relationship flyers. I go through some periods where I'll sit down for a half an hour, search through the flyers for sales and make a shopping list. Other times, I'll simply chuck the entire flyer package right into the recycling. But now I'm focused on reducing our food bill and flyers do help in planning our menu for the week. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a single flyer delivered to my door step in the last three months, so we've been looking at the flyers online. I even called the flyer company a couple of weeks before Christmas to complain. However, I never received a response. Searching for bargains on virtual flyers online is okay, but I rather have hard copies to look at.

Until a couple of weeks ago, I just assumed the reason why I wasn't receiving any flyers was because the flyer company had no delivery person. About two weeks ago, I spotted a man delivering flyers in my neighbourhood. Yesterday, I spotted him again, delivering flyers. I watched him for five minutes as he did his deliveries. I got excited when he walked up the path with a handful flyers. Yay, flyers, I thought to myself. Unfortunately, none were delivered into my mail box. Once again, I was flyer-less.

The thought of hijacking his stroller full of flyers briefly popped into my head. Instead, I thought I'd do some research and then take action. I took notice that my immediate neighbours received flyers. Very strange and odd.

This morning, I called the flyer company and got an actual live person on the phone. The problem, said the employee, wasn't on their end. It was on the Ottawa Citizen's end. In October, I started receiving a free subscription from the Citizen, in hopes I'd return as a regular subscriber. Unfortunately for them, all in the news at that time was H1N1. And as a mother of a young toddler, I was trying to reduce the amount of H1N1 coverage I was exposed to. When I asked them to cancel my subscription, they labeled me as a temporary hold, not a permanent hold. And for three months that is why I wasn't getting my papers. So I had to make a second call to the Citizen, to release the temporary hold and cancel my subscription permanently. It seems silly to do all this work in order for me to receive flyers that will eventually be dumped into my recycling box, but when you are looking for bargains, every little bit helps. Here's hoping I get my flyers next week.

Dear Ottawa Citizen

Dear Ottawa Citizen,

Today I noticed copies of your Monday and Tuesday editions in my mailbox. I know that you are hoping by providing me -- a former Citizen subscriber -- with free copies of your paper for the next week or so will make me reconsider my position and sign up for a subscription.

However, you are doing the exact opposite. In the last week or so, I have been inundated with articles and broadcasts related to H1N1 in order to make a decision in terms of getting the Swine Flu vaccination for myself and my daughter. I have made a decision. We will be getting vaccinated. However, it remains to be seen when we will get our inoculations as the line ups at the vaccination clinics operated by Ottawa Public Health have been swamped by clients. I am now faced with the situation: do we wait in line for hours in the cold and risk darling daughter contracting illness or do we sit at home, unvaccinated. We in Ottawa can take some small comfort that we aren't alone as it is a similar story across the country. (Check out this article).

When I turn on the television, H1N1 leads the national and local newscasts. When I turn on the radio, H1N1 is what people want to talk about. At least I can turn off the channel or frequency when I've heard enough. Now, to my surprise, I'm getting H1N1 news delivered to my doorstep. Your papers were promptly filed away in the recycling bin. I tried calling your reader sale and service department today, but it was closed. I will call first thing in the morning to get your company to cease delivery of your product to my doorstep.

As a former journalist, you would think I'd be reading your paper with rapt attention, trying to education myself on the current situation. But I'm not. I am a mother to a young toddler who just can't take any more bad news. I do not want to mitigate the deaths of anyone who loses their life to H1N1. Their deaths are a tragedy and my heart goes out to their families. However, I can't feed into the fear. Like the virus itself, I'm eliminating my exposure to news related to H1N1. Depending on the wait times at local clinics, I will get vaccinated. But in the meantime, I've got to vaccinate myself against the news, even if that means temporarily putting my head into the sand.

Sincerely,

Valerie McLaughlin