I've Heard Enough!

I realize that I am more times than not un-cool and out of the loop but, when did we get to the point where we have no idea how to define privacy or a personal matter? I am addressing more specifically, cell phones. Every public place that I go there is someone in the midst of a conversation that is really audible and very personal. These conversations range from fights with lovers and spouses to financial problems to angry gossip about other people concerning matters that really isn’t anyone’s business (even the speaker’s). As a case in point, earlier a woman stood next to me in line and talked into her cell phone as if she were at home and in the privacy of her own room. She was telling her husband or baby daddy that she had “…signed the papers in case the kids wanted to get in touch with them later on.” She was clearly talking about the point in fact that someone was adopting her children. She added that their (she and the father’s) “…final visit with the children would have to be at a public place like Chuck E. Cheese’s.” The circumstances or what may have lead up to this “decision” she did not mention.

My first reaction was that I felt horrible for her. Then I felt bad for me. Why did I have to hear that, it was really none of my business? This led me to wonder why someone would have such a conversation in line at a Rite Aid Pharmacy. Have we become so used to cell phones that we don’t even consider that others can hear our conversations? Are we so ill-bred that we don’t have any sense of shame or privacy? I am not sure what is the dominate force here. What I do know is that I see on a daily basis people of all walks of life on cell phones, people inadvertently sharing with the world very private conversations.

I’ve heard people make drug deals and once even offer to purchase a pizza and a pack of cigarettes’ in exchange for sex. There does not seem to even be an attempt to disguise these conversations. It is as if the speaker has no idea what telephone etiquette might be. In some cases I feel that the speaker might just get some sort of gratification from sharing with the world but, for most it would appear as if they are just oblivious. Well, when I was a kid I was told by others that if I did not like hearing something I should not listen. Unfortunately, that is the problem here. The most offensive conversations usually take place where I am trapped; like public transportation or in line trying to pay for breath mints.

I have written about this topic before a couple years ago with the hopes then of things getting better. They are not getting better. They are getting worse. We either don’t know or care that our personal conversations are just that, personal.

Goodwill?

Yesterday I took a trip to the Wegman's grocery store because they have the greatest Half Moon cookies and "every day you get [their] best," as well. Next door to that particular Wegman’s is a new Goodwill thrift store. I am of course drawn to such ventures so; I decided to check it out. What an incredibly strange place. It was kind of a cross between Marshall’s, The Dollar Store and a traditional thrift shop. What an incredibly curious marketing approach.

The Marshall’s reference is because the store’s layout has the feel of a small discount department store. As well, the Goodwill sells many new items (most over priced); by new I mean "never worn or used" in lots and quantities that suggest they purchased the stuff from some wholesale closeout operation and just jack up the prices in order to abuse one group of poor to benefit another. Opps, did I say that out loud? Anyway, they had new socks, winter gears, house wares etc. The curious marketing faux pas was that the actual thrift store donated and gently used items looked really bad and not worth purchasing next to the new stuff under the bright department store lights. “Whose idea was this” I thought? Perhaps if the new items were in a separate department in another area of the store the comparison might not have been so dramatic. For instance they had new hats and scares on 3 or 4 end caps and on the next end cap were used ties.
Most of the ties were originally expensive. There were several Brooks Brothers ties there. Unfortunately, they were wrinkled or horribly pressed flat beyond repair. I could be wrong but, I believe that Brooks Brothers ties are kind of like the flag. Once abused or if their usefulness has waned, they must be ceremonially destroyed with others in a great fire. To add insult to injury the price on these useless neck affectations was $6.99. I looked at the tag again and then checked out others and indeed they were all priced at $6.99. Who might purchase a rumpled worn tie for $6.99 when other thrift stores sell them for $.50 or $1.00? Might they not sell more at a more reasonable price and has no one connected with their organization(s) ever taken a price theory course? Some poor soul who does not know any better will buy them. That’s where the abusing one group to support another comes in. This makes the store’s name a bit ironic don’t you think?

Moving right along I was captivated by a very pleasant young woman who appeared to be removing shoes from the shelves and stacking them on a cart. Since it was none of my business, I asked her what she was doing. She told me that shoes and other items that were on the selling floor too long and had not sold were removed and then tossed in the dumpster out back. She added that it was the store’s policy and some clothing items were baled and sent to third world nations. I asked her if that was why I see starving children on television in Denver Bronco and Buffalo Bills jerseys. “Probably” she giggled. “Why don’t you just set them outside the door or put them in a big bin with $1.00 on the front?” I suggested that people might be leery of purchasing used footwear for 7, 8, 9 or 10 bucks but, they might find $1.00 affordable and the shoes useful considering you are going to throw them in the garbage anyway. Future, I stated that people donate to help and not so one group can leverage free stuff to the highest bidder and then like spoiled children toss what they then consider useless. Again, she reiterated that she thought it a ridiculous practice but, it was the store’s policy. Indeed, it is the store’s policy, and that of several other major charitable organizations that operate thrift stores including The Salvation Army and The Rescue Mission.

I just don’t get this. I believe that the practice violates the trust that donors give the charity to make their former items useful to others. These are not specified donations. People don’t realize or expect that only one group will benefit. They drop the stuff off closest to their homes or travels for a particular day. They donate rather than toss the stuff themselves because they want to help. As well, I believe it stupid to toss stuff that you can get a buck for or better yet might help someone at no cost.

A Shoppers Card Rant

At the inception of the “shopper’s club” card I told a friend that it really wasn’t for the consumer but, rather the store. I added that stores would track what you and others purchase and eliminate slow selling products and manipulate prices far easier. Stores now know when and how many of a certain item you and others purchase. They can now predict to expert certainty what day and what time of day a certain item will be purchased. They know how much you will pay and can push that envelope as far as we will let them. (I even read that online merchants now adjust prices hourly based on data they have collected.) Because they have all of this information that is updated every second that their doors are opened, they can now sell you what they want to sell you rather than what you might need or want. This all sounds a little like one of my Port-laden conspiracy theories but, it really isn’t. We are being manipulated big time.

I imagine that it has been at least ten or twelve years since my first card. I believe that it was with Wegman’s supermarkets. This is only important in that they helped set a trend. I now have a separate wallet for my shoppers/club cards.

My rant today is about how in the past two or three months every time I go to the grocery store, drug store or anywhere else I cannot find what I am looking for. I recently went to the local Price Chopper supermarket for my favorite tea that only they sold here. After about 20 minutes searching on my own and another 20 with a customer service person; we discovered that the store was no longer carrying the tea. Yesterday, I went to Kenney’s Drugs for my usual deodorant and shower gel and neither were on the shelves. The store is no longer carrying them.

Why are they discontinuing all of the products that I like? Well, I guess I should not take it personally… it’s only business. Right? On one level it certainly is a very wise business practice/move to quickly get rid of slow sellers and replace them with stuff that’s going to make the business a lot of money. The problem is one of choice. For instance, I would purchase and drink that tea that I searched in vain for because I have IBS and it greatly helped to maintain a balance in my system. As well, I used that particular deodorant because I found through much trial and error that it worked best for me. Do you see where I’m going here? There is a great clash between the retailers profit motive and the products that I (we) believe are good for me (us). Products that specifically work for me or are good for my health and well being are not of particular interest to a profit driven shopper’s card. I am almost forced to do what I did yesterday, which is to go to three different stores only to arrive home sweaty and pissed with a product that is over-priced that I did not want. Also, after I got home I discovered that they charged me the regular and not the sale price on the shower gel.

So, what’s a consumer to do? Well, this is a rant and not an advice column. BTW, I wouldn’t suggest “Occupy” the grocery and drug stores… you’ll just end up buying the stuff they want you to purchase.