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Merchants have added a new obstacle to my shopping forays. Now it seems that every business has some kind of special card to use to get good deals. In most stores I really don’t shop enough to make these little clubs worthwhile. Yes, I do feel left out when I go up to the register to check out and I don’t have a special card or a secret number that will give me a discount if I buy 400 boxes of Raisin Bran, but I guess I’ll just have to live with that. I’ve quit shopping at a store that I used to frequent pretty often because I don’t understand their Sunday ads with little symbols beside certain products. I’m not sure what they mean; they look like something I saw on a Mayan calendar. I guess they don’t think I shop enough there to explain their secret codes. They just aren’t friendly to the shopping challenged like me.
I was checking out at another big box type store recently and when I went to swipe (a strange new meaning of an old word) my credit card, a number of questions popped up on the screen. I swiped the card without answering the questions and it didn’t work. The young lady checking me out told me that I had to answer the questions before it would accept my card. I asked her if this was part of a C.I.A. program and she just looked at me. I put my trusty card away and handed her a twenty dollar bill and asked if I had to answer questions with that. She could see that this wasn’t going well, said, “No,” took my twenty, and gave me my purchase. I don’t think I’ll go in there again either even though it was one of my favorite stores. By the way, I wasn’t grouchy at either of these stores. No; I kept my new decade resolution to be friendly at all times. Well, at least, most times.
All of this reminds me of the secret code rings I used to get from the ‘30s and ‘40s radio programs like “Jack Armstrong, The All American Boy,” or my favorite, “Terry and the Pirates.”
Don’t even mention coupons to me; that’s generally a lost cause although I recently checked out with a bunch of coupons and saved $19 on my biannual vitamin shopping trip. I kept the coupons firmly clutched in my hand at all times during the frustrating trip through the health food aisles. I mean how many versions of Vitamin D can there be? Fortunately my doctor had written down what he thought I needed. Wouldn’t it be easier to move to a sunnier climate? I shouldn’t complain about my successes, should I?
I’ve been feeling a little more positive these days. I think once we got past the Winter Solstice, I could see Spring way in the future, but it’s there, and there’s hope we will get there after all. Think Spring! Alnada2704@gmail.com or care of Winona Post, P.O. Box 27, Winona,Minn. 55987
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