Wordless Wednesday
Monthly Archives: November 2014
Not Bait. Definitely Switched
I went to Walgreens to cash in my 4,050 points against the two gallons of $4.19 milk I bought yesterday. They wouldn’t let me.
“Plenty of points. In plenty of places,” the Walgreens ads trumpet. The store’s “Balance Rewards” appear on featured items in the store fliers and online each week. They promote buying “more for healthy behavior.”
This week, the flier offers 1,000 points on Lindt Chocolates, 1,000 points on Schweppes seltzer water, 1,000 points on Planters winter spice or brittle nut medley, and 1,000 points on Hallmark greeting cards. Yep, healthy choices all.
“Oh, we have a policy not to redeem those points on dairy,” the manager said.
Turns out the fine print does say that points are “good on next purchase. Points are not earned if Store Credit or Redemption Dollars are used in a transaction and cannot be redeemed on some items. Complete details at Walgreens.com/Balance.”
I wondered about the policy that sells healthy chocolate and soda and nuts and greeting cards but won’t redeem them on milk, so I turned to the Interwebs.
“Due to state and federal laws, points cannot be earned on some items. Points will not be awarded to anyone who currently is or was at any time in the 6 months prior to purchasing Pharmacy Items covered by Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare or any other government-funded healthcare program. Pharmacy Items must be purchased at participating Walgreens Drugstore, Rxpress, Duane Reade, or Walgreens Pharmacy locations (“Participating Stores”) to earn points. Excludes Pharmacy Items purchased from AR, NJ or NY pharmacies and prescriptions transferred to a Participating Store located in AL, MS, OR or PR. See Balance Rewards terms and conditions for full details.” [Emphasis added]
The Terms and Conditions of the loyalty program offered by Walgreen Co. to its customers (also referred to as “the Program”) (I presume the loyalty program is referred to as “the Program,” not the customers) runs to five dense, single spaced pages of legalese. Buried near the bottom of page 3, I found this:
“Redemption Dollars may not be used for the purchase of the following: dairy; alcohol; tobacco; stamps; phone/pre-paid/gift cards; money order/transfers; transportation passes; charitable donations; prescriptions; pseudoephedrine or ephedrine products; immunizations, health tests or other healthcare items or services; Prescription Savings Club membership fee; clinic services.”
Walgreens may, of course, at any time and without notice, change, eliminate, or terminate the Point earning and redemption procedures and offerings.
I can understand that a drug store might not want to encourage discounts on booze and tobacco and would “lose” money on cash stuff like stamps, cash cards, and money order and the like. I don’t understand why a drug store “at the corner of happy and healthy” would discourage discounts on prescription, immunizations, health tests, items and services.
CVS annoys me, too, but I really wish they hadn’t left town.
“I dislike CVS,” Liz Arden said, “simply because they refuse Google Wallet and Apple Pay forms of payment. I like Walgreens because they accept Google Wallet.”
There is that, of course.
As far as I know, Walgreens does not sell bait. I feel happier and healthier already.
Wordless Wednesday
Today.
You know what to do.
Do it early. Do it often.
And if you don’t do it, you get what you deserve. The other guy wins.
You might enjoy Didya Vote? from 2008.
Schooled
Time for a little readin’ ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that 15-year old U.S. high-school students “made no progress on recent international achievement exams and fell further in the rankings, reviving a debate about America’s ability to compete in a global economy.” Results of the survey can be found at oecd.org.
Our teens slipped from 25th to 31st in math in just three years, from 20th to 24th in science; and from 11th to 21st in reading.
The U.S. used to turn out the best students. Then we grew complacent. Then political correctness and inertia overcame the search for knowledge and growth.
Back when I was in high school (heh), we learned readin’, ‘ritin’, ‘rithmetic, and ‘terpretation. Frank Wright (<== his real name) taught us history and social studies, and critical thinking long before “educators” made it a buzz word instead of an orderly process. Mr. Wright wasn’t an “educator”; Mr. Wright was a teacher. Oh, he did worship FDR (making him the most liberal man I had ever met) but he was bright and caring and good at his job. And the only politics that got in the way of teaching us history and life were the ones we freely argued about in the classroom.
Mr. Wright, my parents, and many of our public servants of that time were all life-members of what Tom Brokaw aptly called the “Greatest Generation.” They didn’t just grow up in the Great Depression. They didn’t just win World War II. They didn’t just teach. They learned. The 15-year old U.S. high-school students they once were could read, could write, could do arithmetic, could think critically.
Each succeeding class of 15-year old U.S. high-school students has dropped a little in what they could read, what they could write, what arithmetic they could do, how well they could think critically.
Look where that has brought us.
Today the average 15-year old U.S. high-school student can’t be bothered. That’s not because the average 15-year old U.S. high-school student doesn’t want to be bothered; that’s because our schools aren’t bothering them enough.
Today, our “public servants” (current, past, and would be) are still too busy to fix it. In fact, they are so busy telling you how much you should hate the other guy, they aren’t even telling you how they will pretend to fix it.
I see a tie-in between the failing school results and the failing electoral results.
Here in South Puffin in the vast expanse of Florida sunshine, we’ve learned from Tom Steyer that Gov. Rick Scott is “too shady for the sunshine state.” And the Brothers Koch tell us that former-Gov. Charlie Crist is a “slick politician, lousy governor.”
Up in North Puffin in the People’s Democratic Republic of Vermont, we find (pretty accurate) attack ads against incumbent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ everyday hypocrisy when he isn’t even on the ballot.
Boy, howdy, I feel better informed already.
I know so much bad stuff I don’t have time to worry about life getting better.
My friend Chris Bohjalian wrote yesterday that the dump was once a part of the stump. It’s a good read if your schooling was above average.
Vermonters are not voting for a president or either senator tomorrow, “and the race for our lone congressional representative is not exactly a nail-biter,” he wrote.
Every elective office is important. Even the Mosquito Control Board. And the High Bailiff. The Mosquito Control Board here in the Keys has a $15.51 million budget and a significant air force. The High Bailiff and perhaps only the High Bailiff can arrest the Sheriff.
My rules haven’t changed. If you’re an incumbent, find a new job. If you’re vying and trying and lying for our vote, find a new job. And if your ads even mention the other guy? Find a new job because I ain’t gonna vote for you.
Make tomorrow a nail biter. Don’t send the same Vermonter back to Congress. Don’t send your other scoundrel back to the Senate. Write in someone you know from the dump. He simply can’t do any worse.