Nurturing the mooch in me

Mooch: Someone who wants something for free ... someone who takes and takes but doesn't give back.
(source: Urban Dictionary)

Let's be honest. Everyone is a bit of a mooch. I mean, who doesn't like free stuff? I do! As far as the second part of that definition, I think it's safe to say that I am not the kind of person that takes and takes and doesn't give back. (All right I confess, I am a bit of a mooch when I go to my parents house. ex: oh what? you're going grocery shopping? can I come with you before I head back to school? Don't tell me you've never done this...)

Anyway, I like having friends, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have any if I were a mooch all the time, not to mention none of my friends are super bad mooches for a reason--it's called I'm not friends with people who are hard-core moochers.

However, I am friends with people who know how to be good mooches--in other words, to enjoy free stuff--without losing friends. One such friend is Sarah, the founder of the facebook group iMooch. Sarah has helped to open my eyes to all the free stuff that is available to you. Like, all the places that give you free stuff for your birthday, or things like Chic-fil-a free fry day (which is tomorrow btw), etc.

Being a student is the best situation to be in if you're a mooch. At Dixie College, my alma mater, the LDS institute would have free food day every other week, and it was good food! I miss that. But luckily, Sarah and I have found the free food events here on BYU campus. Side note: being a woman is also beneficial to being a mooch. The free food events we have attended have both been for the "women in the humanities," hosted by the business school. I never thought about going to business school, but hey, I'm willing to listen to why I should over some yummy free food (another side note: BYU catering rocks!).

Last night we attended another women in humanities dinner, and we had it planned out perfectly. We'll eat, listen to the presentation a little bit, then make an inconspicuous exit to the basketball game which started at eight. Well, after only a half hour or so as we were eating, Sarah's friend who had been holding our place in line was all "you guys should get over here because they're not letting us save seats and they are filling up way fast." What to do? How could we get out of there without looking like we really just came for the food?

Well, there was no way for it to not look like that. It was either our dignity or Jimmer. We chose Jimmer (flash forward to 3 hours later: that was a big mistake). So we politely left the building, changed our shoes, and ran across the street to the Marriott Center. I was ashamed of how it all looked. But then Sarah, who I guess is a better mooch than I am, offered me words of advice: "you're never going to see any of them again!" That helped a little. But as I am writing this, I do feel a little bad about it, and not just because going to that game was a waste. Please don't judge me.

So that's about it. And hey, if you know any free hook-ups, let me know--after all, I'm a mooch!

Love, Annie