Does Using a Groupon at a Place Where I’m a standard Make Me a Jerk? [Etiquette]

Groupon is an ideal popular deals site for a reason: It offers amazing deals. So why do I always come to be feeling guilty? Because it keeps offering me deals for places I already frequent.

The first time it happened was multiple weeks ago. (I’ve only been checking Groupon for a couple of weeks.) There was a normal restaurant code, offering a 50% discount: $24 worth of food for $12. I bought two, because this particular place- Muddy’s Coffee House in Mississippi, Portland-has a number of breakfast items that I believe are great. (I’m a sausage cream gravy man, myself, but they’ve made me a believer inside the merit of an honest mushroom gravy over a biscuit.)

We don’t go to Muddy’s a ton, but we’ve been there maybe 3 times during the last three months. It’s within walking distance, that’s nice on a dreary weekend morning.

Last Sunday we went to take advantage of our first Groupon at Muddy’s. Had a number of Bloody Marys. I feel our bill was like $30 or so, maybe somewhat less.

I had the Groupon paper in my pocket. You only print them out from the website, so it was a folded up sheet of printer paper. I was already form of embarrassed to exploit it, so I kept it folded up.

The woman who brought back the receipt asked us, ” So have you guys ever been here before? I’m seeking to determine who is using these Groupons.” I instantly said, ” Yeah, we’ve been here once or twice.” Her face fell. Although she was polite, i’ll tell she was disappointed. I felt like a jerk.

I’ve got that other Groupon for Muddy’s, but I haven’t felt comfortable using it.

Then today’s deal ends up being an analogous 50% discount for Breakside Brewery , a place we probably go to eat once or more every week.

I’m torn. On one hand, we’re regulars. Why shouldn’t we get a coupon when the opportunity arises? On the opposite, it is a place where the servers and bartenders always greet us personally once we get back. We sit at the bar and discuss working within the service industry and concerning the different beers they’ve on tap. We’re not all friends, but we’re friendly.

So now it looks like I’m going to short myself $30 (if I bought two) because I don’t want these people with whom I do business to feel slightly. That’s fair, I assume; you’ve got to support local businesses if you’d like them to survive.

But the Scottish skinflint in me is going to have a troublesome time going to Breakside next time without thinking, Man, i’ll have had like three free beers if I just weren’t this sort of wuss.

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This post is tagged: bloody marys, coffee house, Mississippi, mushroom gravy, printer paper, three months, walking distance