To Market, To Market

I had to run to the supermarket tonight after dinner. I was already a wee bit annoyed as Lil' Miss was in overdrive (the natural result of my having skipped her nap time in order to be sure she will sleep soundly tonight) and as we entered the store I saw him. He was standing behind a small narrow counter with a Baltimore Sun newspaper logo behind him and a newspaper splayed out on the counter top. I veered hard to the right to avoid his obstacle in the produce section. (I was in a "get in and get out quick" kind of mode.) He didn't even look up when he spoke to me. "How would you like to save $10 on groceries and get a free paper?" I, being the polite young woman my parents raised me to be, felt obliged to answer. "No, thanks."
"Do you already receive the Sunday paper?"
"No."
"Wouldn't you like a free one?"
"No, I don't have time to read the paper."
"You, don't have time to save money by clipping valuable coupons?"
Okay, I'm getting really bothered by his tactic. Didn't I already say, No thanks?
"No, I don't," I replied. He eyed my children and me up and looked at me in disbelief. Finally I said, "I don't have time for this conversation," and then wheeled behind the apple stand, attempting to select fruit more gently than I was feeling at the moment.

This "attack" bothered me well into the cereal aisle where I heard myself talking to myself "let it go, he's just trying to sell his newspapers." Blah. I found myself, even at the self-checkout explaining to myself why coupons don't really save me money. It's because most of the stuff in the coupon sections are for junk food that I don't buy. I know what I buy, I've tried doing the coupon thing, and frankly the coupon choices just aren't very healthy. Well, once and while I'll find one for whole wheat pasta, but it's just not usually worth the time and effort.

Why do I feel guilty shrugging off this newspaper man? It's really stupid. Actually, I think I feel guilty at my annoyance. I mean, I was on a mission, and he was creating an obstacle to the goal of speed shopping for no reason and he wasn't taking NO for an answer. I hate that. I sometimes forget that even though I do take "No" for an answer, other people don't always.