So my early morning excursion today takes me to Walgreen’s as I need some snacks for the room. Jet lag hits me in two very distinct ways. My body neither knows when it is time to sleep nor eat. Anyone who knows me understands that the latter is a big issue for me. What me moody?? The hardest thing is being stuck in a hotel room when you’re starving at 3 am. Anyway, it struck me this morning that America is on the wrong track.
While standing at the check out with my bottles of water and Ritz Crisps, I noticed that the store had the ‘important’ things behind the counter, well from the reach of customers. It struck me that the Nicorette was heavily guarded behind the counter while the Chee-tos were available to the general population. Consider the subliminal messaging here. Its clear that if you want to improve your life and improve your health, that a post pubescent store clerk will need to get involved for you to analyze the back of a box of Nicorette. On the other hand you can decide to slowly kill yourself over the next 40 years with the artery clogging saturated fats found in the junk food aisle.
What if this were reversed? What if we were able to peruse the medicines behind the safety and security of the check out counter at will as opposed to having to ensure the embarrassing encounter with the check out clerk. How many more people would actually buy the Nicorette or the condoms if they could just reach them unassisted?
Then, we can really have the clerks guard the populace from the real dangers in life. Picture the gum smacking teen-ager confronting the double wide patron with the desire to get at the jumbo size of double stuff Oreo cookies safely stored behind the counter. An awkward conversation ensues with the clerk asking the patron, “Are you sure?” The patron fumbles with an acceptable answer, “Um, well, I guess…”
It seems out priorities have become juxtaposed.
While standing at the check out with my bottles of water and Ritz Crisps, I noticed that the store had the ‘important’ things behind the counter, well from the reach of customers. It struck me that the Nicorette was heavily guarded behind the counter while the Chee-tos were available to the general population. Consider the subliminal messaging here. Its clear that if you want to improve your life and improve your health, that a post pubescent store clerk will need to get involved for you to analyze the back of a box of Nicorette. On the other hand you can decide to slowly kill yourself over the next 40 years with the artery clogging saturated fats found in the junk food aisle.
What if this were reversed? What if we were able to peruse the medicines behind the safety and security of the check out counter at will as opposed to having to ensure the embarrassing encounter with the check out clerk. How many more people would actually buy the Nicorette or the condoms if they could just reach them unassisted?
Then, we can really have the clerks guard the populace from the real dangers in life. Picture the gum smacking teen-ager confronting the double wide patron with the desire to get at the jumbo size of double stuff Oreo cookies safely stored behind the counter. An awkward conversation ensues with the clerk asking the patron, “Are you sure?” The patron fumbles with an acceptable answer, “Um, well, I guess…”
It seems out priorities have become juxtaposed.
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1 comment:
These sort of convenience stores only satisfy a craving for salt or sugar, not necessarily something to eat, food, sustenance, non-crap, un-garbage, etc.. Sadly when I find myself at work at 3am with the crazy hungries (the result of being bleary eyed tired and cranky) I settle for some kind of power bar and bottle of water. I once convinced a small indian counterman to make me a cheese panini, but I wouldn't count on that happening again. I'm not a fan of the availability of Nicorette, by the way, but that's another story. I just doubt the effectiveness of most health aids.
peej
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