Patch Voice: 5 Current Fads I'm Thankful For

By Colleen Walsh Fong

Have you done the Gratitude Challenge that’s appeared all over Facebook in recent months? I confess that I have not. But each year when Thanksgiving time arrives I take a break from business copywriting for my clients to consider what things I am grateful for. The Gratitude Challenge and other fads of its ilk did not make my list. It’s not that I don’t think it a good idea to focus on gratitude, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or other deserving causes. It’s about the format.

Dropping a public challenge onto a “friend,” not knowing if they may or may not want to do it, or what their current circumstances are, seems like cyber-bullying and not very friendly to me. It’s really no one’s business if I give to the ALS Association or any other charity. And I certainly don’t want to be told what I must do and in what time frame and publicly announce my compliance, or get called out for noncompliance.

I like to stick to my own old fashioned method of taking a few opportunities during the year to reflect on what I am truly grateful for. In keeping with the fad theme, I’ll give you the 5 fads for which I am grateful in 2014, and save the rest of my gratitude for my Thanksgiving dinner table talk.

Pay It Forward

As a recent unsuspecting recipient of this practice, I have to say I love it! As I tried to pay for my lunch in a local mall’s food court the other day I was told that the man in front of me, who had just made a quick getaway, had insisted upon paying for my lunch. At first I thought he’d made a mistake. Then I thought I must be on a reality TV show. But it turned out he was just “paying it forward,” doing a nice deed for a stranger and hoping I’d pass on a similar good turn. The act’s anonymity appeals to me so much more than the setting up of myself for public praise that’s tied into the Facebook challenges. And this is not to criticize those who fulfill those challenges. I believe they act with the best of intentions. And a lot of good has come from them, especially the ice bucket one. But they’re not for me. I like to keep most of my private life private. So instead of a challenge, I’m issuing a public warning like the one in my post on driving lessons: get ready to pay it forward because I’m on the loose and may be headed for a food court near you.

BOGO’s

Buy One Get One Free isn’t new to 2014. But I like these offers and feel they bear mentioning because I just had a great one laid on me the other day, right after they guy at the Wok Dragon bought my mango chicken for me. If you can find a better coffee drink to enjoy after a sweet and spicy mango chicken entrée than Peppermint Mocha Latte let me know via the comment section below. I thought nothing could make my day sweeter than that after my free lunch. But I was wrong, because Starbucks had a BOGO on those drinks that day, so my husband paid and I got mine for free! “What’s next?” I wondered. And then I remembered we were going to the movies that night.

Regal Crown Club

I don’t know if this qualifies technically as a fad, but I really like it, so I’m including it on my gratitude list. Although I write about saving money with coupons and couponing apps, I must admit that I rarely take the time to do it myself. I know. Big spender, right? I was a voracious coupon clipper during the supermarket wars of the early 1990’s in our area when double and triple coupon days were a regular event. But in recent years it seems like more work than it’s worth to me for face value. And with only 2 of us in the house anymore, I’m not missing much savings. Not that I won’t use a coupon if I’m given one. I will and since my husband is into it, I often do.

But I really love Regal Cinemas’ Crown Club because it works with a card and I don’t have to search through mailers and newspapers to earn my rewards. I received my membership card on the spot when I opted into the club a few years ago. It didn’t cost a cent, nor did I have to supply my phone number or email address. And every time I go to a Regal Cinema, which happens to be the one closest to home anyway, I just whip out the card for swiping with my prepaid, discount ticket from Costco. I use the same process at the concession stand. On Mondays using my card gets me a free small soda. Free small popcorn day is Tuesday. When the card amasses enough points I get a free movie ticket. Their threshold must be pretty low because I’ve had a few free movie tickets this year and I don’t buy concessions often. And in case you’re wondering, I didn’t get a threefer that night at the theater, but I’m expecting a free ticket soon.

Facebook Quizzes

Please don’t tell me what to do on Facebook, but please continue to post your quizzes. They are the dumbed-down Trivial Pursuit of the twenty teens. The surest way to boost my confidence and make me feel good is to award me with a fake title for passing a quiz. In just the past few months I have been named a World Traveler, an Art History Professor, 1965 Paul McCartney, and Grace Kelly--without even having to go to Monaco or go blonde.

Higher Waisted Jeans

I thought we’d learned our collective fashion lesson when we finally abandoned hip-hugger waistlines in the early 70’s. This is a look that flatters pre-pubescent girls and anorexic adult women. And no one else. The long-ago season in which we moved our waistlines to our real waists was so freeing! Pants and skirts were not only comfortable they were more flattering to the masses. Imagine my dismay when waistlines dropped again a few years back, and this time landed perilously close to our pubic bones. If Facebook had a “Dislike” button women the world over would have clicked it under every image of this trend. But this year waistlines have risen back to respectable and more comfortable levels. We look better and we feel better, and that’s a win-win.

I figure 5 is about the maximum number of my favorite fads that anyone is going to read through, so I’ll leave you to devise your own favorite fad list--or not--while I grab my coat for a trip to Starbucks. It’s time to pay it forward.

Colleen is a freelance writer specializing in producing custom content for businesses.

Image Courtesy of debspoons / FreeDigitalPhotos.net