On the way to Cork, he had kept an eye on gasoline prices, and noted the station on the Limerick waterfront where a liter of gasoline was cheapest. He filled up on the way home. While in Limerick, he remembered that Tesco had a sale on mushrooms, so we raced to the Garyowen shopping mall just as it was closing to buy some. I was in awe. I'm not sure.
Prosperity is new to Ireland, and saving a few pennies here and there has long been a part of life.
Here we tend to poke fun at home buyers who sweat an eighth of a percentage point on a mortgage they can easily afford, or the people who bring accordion folders full of coupons to the grocery store. Americans like to brag about how much things cost, not how much they saved. After all, even consumerism is not as much about saving money as it is about trying not to get ripped off big-time. Still, I'd like to bring John over for a couple of weeks and let him loose.