This is not a picture of my thumb. This thumb is too victorious. What do I mean? Read on ...
Somehow, despite the fact that I am addicted to Tim Horton's coffee, I have never won ANYTHING during the annual "Roll up the Rim to Win" contest. Not one thing. EVER.
For those of you who have been living under a rock (or in America ... or under an American rock) Tim Horton's coffee is more than just a beverage ... it's a fundamental part of the Canadian lifestyle. If a Canadian were to get mugged between the hours of 7:00 and 9:00 am and had to choose between handing over their wallet or their Tim's coffee, there would have to be some serious consideration of the pros and cons of both choices, possibly involving flow charts and Venn diagrams. And if the coffee itself wasn't addictive enough, every March and April, they distribute the coffee in contest cups that may (or may not) have a redeemable coupon under the rim.
The contest seems to cause a bit of a frenzy in Canada. Everyone has a "technique" for actually unrolling the adhesive-laden (and often a bit saliva-soaked) rim. My friend Megan very tastefully uses scissors to snip the cup on either side of the prize area to get the "rim rolling." Me, I fold the empty cup in half and then use my thumbs to unveil the (invariably) pink portion of the cup which chirpily encourages me to "Play Again!" Not to be outdone by myself or Megan, another of my colleagues (I am not making this up) has a "rim roller" keychain, manufactured specifically for this purpose, and this purpose only.
It can certainly pay off to roll those rims. There are some big ticket prizes up for grabs including cars, boats, GPS systems and cash. You can win $50 gift cards redeemable for Tim Horton's food and coffee, which could lead to literally weeks of blissfully caffienated mornings. And, even more persuasive, there are the ugly cautionary tales about what could happen to you if you DON'T roll up your rim, and foolishly discard the cup with the rim intact.
Two years ago, a 10 year old girl found a cup with an unrolled rim in a garbage can in her St. Jerome, Quebec elementary school playground. Her little fingers were too chubby to unroll the rim herself, so she asked her 12 year old friend to help her. When the girls unrolled the rim together they discovered that they were the proud new owners of a $28,000 Toyota SUV. When they ran home to tell their parents, a bitter dispute erupted between the two families as to which child actually "won" the prize. The controversy escalated when the original owner of the cup came forward demanding a saliva DNA test to prove that that she should be awarded the prize. Tim Horton's finally decided to award the SUV to the parents of the girl who originally discovered the cup (as a minor she could not collect the prize herself.) Justice prevailed, I suppose, but maturity and grace suffered.
Here's the thing. I don't care about any of the big prizes.. I don't want a SUV or even a prize card. I just want a damn donut. According to http://www.rolluptherimtowin.com/ Tim Horton's gives away 31,000000 food and drink prizes per year. But not to me.
This has become something of a joke within my social and professional life. For the last three years I have bought my friend Kevin a coffee in the morning to help him ease into the workday. Our coffees are differentiated by distinctive markings on the lids ... his has a big R (for regular coffee) and mine has a D (double-double.) Kevin has probably won 30 donuts from rims that I BOUGHT WITH MY MONEY AND BROUGHT HIM WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS. And my coffees ... nada.
Two years ago I was whining about my bad coffee luck to my brother, while he was driving me home after yet another fruitless attempt to win a donut. "Here," he said generously, reaching into a compartment below his dashboard and pulling out a handful of torn rim coupons, "take some of mine." Needless to say I pushed them away disdainfully. "I want to win my OWN donut." I sniffed haughtily. "The next one I buy will win. You'll see."
And here we are today ... two years after that statement ... and I have NEVER won myself a donut. How can that be? It's true that my luck is inconsistent to say the least - at 22 I was probably the youngest citizen to have have been audited by the government of Canada. I have been called for jury duty FOUR TIMES in my life. But I wonder if there are larger powers at work here. Perhaps the universe is preparing me for my inevitable SUV rim? Maybe I am not supposed to win until a prize that I really want is up for grabs, like a trip to Iceland or a role in a Bruce Campbell zombie movie or ... a pony!
Look, I'm trying to be mature about all of this. I'm fairly certain that I will never try to pry a soggy rim out of a 10 year old girl's little fingers. But I can't promise that I'll show the same restraint with my friends or family or even (sadly) my students, because one of these days I might just snap from the frustration. So hold onto your rims tightly my friends ... because SOMETHING will have to break the cycle of (start rolling your "r's" now ...) rrrrrolling up the rrrrrrim for CRRRRRRRAP.
For those of you who have been living under a rock (or in America ... or under an American rock) Tim Horton's coffee is more than just a beverage ... it's a fundamental part of the Canadian lifestyle. If a Canadian were to get mugged between the hours of 7:00 and 9:00 am and had to choose between handing over their wallet or their Tim's coffee, there would have to be some serious consideration of the pros and cons of both choices, possibly involving flow charts and Venn diagrams. And if the coffee itself wasn't addictive enough, every March and April, they distribute the coffee in contest cups that may (or may not) have a redeemable coupon under the rim.
The contest seems to cause a bit of a frenzy in Canada. Everyone has a "technique" for actually unrolling the adhesive-laden (and often a bit saliva-soaked) rim. My friend Megan very tastefully uses scissors to snip the cup on either side of the prize area to get the "rim rolling." Me, I fold the empty cup in half and then use my thumbs to unveil the (invariably) pink portion of the cup which chirpily encourages me to "Play Again!" Not to be outdone by myself or Megan, another of my colleagues (I am not making this up) has a "rim roller" keychain, manufactured specifically for this purpose, and this purpose only.
It can certainly pay off to roll those rims. There are some big ticket prizes up for grabs including cars, boats, GPS systems and cash. You can win $50 gift cards redeemable for Tim Horton's food and coffee, which could lead to literally weeks of blissfully caffienated mornings. And, even more persuasive, there are the ugly cautionary tales about what could happen to you if you DON'T roll up your rim, and foolishly discard the cup with the rim intact.
Two years ago, a 10 year old girl found a cup with an unrolled rim in a garbage can in her St. Jerome, Quebec elementary school playground. Her little fingers were too chubby to unroll the rim herself, so she asked her 12 year old friend to help her. When the girls unrolled the rim together they discovered that they were the proud new owners of a $28,000 Toyota SUV. When they ran home to tell their parents, a bitter dispute erupted between the two families as to which child actually "won" the prize. The controversy escalated when the original owner of the cup came forward demanding a saliva DNA test to prove that that she should be awarded the prize. Tim Horton's finally decided to award the SUV to the parents of the girl who originally discovered the cup (as a minor she could not collect the prize herself.) Justice prevailed, I suppose, but maturity and grace suffered.
Here's the thing. I don't care about any of the big prizes.. I don't want a SUV or even a prize card. I just want a damn donut. According to http://www.rolluptherimtowin.com/ Tim Horton's gives away 31,000000 food and drink prizes per year. But not to me.
This has become something of a joke within my social and professional life. For the last three years I have bought my friend Kevin a coffee in the morning to help him ease into the workday. Our coffees are differentiated by distinctive markings on the lids ... his has a big R (for regular coffee) and mine has a D (double-double.) Kevin has probably won 30 donuts from rims that I BOUGHT WITH MY MONEY AND BROUGHT HIM WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS. And my coffees ... nada.
Two years ago I was whining about my bad coffee luck to my brother, while he was driving me home after yet another fruitless attempt to win a donut. "Here," he said generously, reaching into a compartment below his dashboard and pulling out a handful of torn rim coupons, "take some of mine." Needless to say I pushed them away disdainfully. "I want to win my OWN donut." I sniffed haughtily. "The next one I buy will win. You'll see."
And here we are today ... two years after that statement ... and I have NEVER won myself a donut. How can that be? It's true that my luck is inconsistent to say the least - at 22 I was probably the youngest citizen to have have been audited by the government of Canada. I have been called for jury duty FOUR TIMES in my life. But I wonder if there are larger powers at work here. Perhaps the universe is preparing me for my inevitable SUV rim? Maybe I am not supposed to win until a prize that I really want is up for grabs, like a trip to Iceland or a role in a Bruce Campbell zombie movie or ... a pony!
Look, I'm trying to be mature about all of this. I'm fairly certain that I will never try to pry a soggy rim out of a 10 year old girl's little fingers. But I can't promise that I'll show the same restraint with my friends or family or even (sadly) my students, because one of these days I might just snap from the frustration. So hold onto your rims tightly my friends ... because SOMETHING will have to break the cycle of (start rolling your "r's" now ...) rrrrrolling up the rrrrrrim for CRRRRRRRAP.
At Western, 7 percent of all garbage consists of coffee cups, most of them from Tim's. No kidding. Think about. Think think about it.
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