When exactly in the history of the American consumer did the key chain become less about keys and more about barcodes?
I refuse to get one more card. I don’t care if they give me the stuff for free. I’m not doing it.
Sometimes getting the key into or out of the ignition is blocked by the weight of these cards or one will bend into a pretzel shape and pop off and hit me in the eye.
And, what do I get for these cards? I have totally no idea. The eggs that are on special are always cracked so now I buy the eggs that are never discounted. The three for 5 dollar bottles of Cranapple juice I just bought are filled up with enough High Fructose Corn Syrup to bring on Type 2 Diabetes, so they are out.
I could buy two T shirts for 25 dollars instead of 1 for 15 dollars, but that still adds up to 10 more dollars for a T shirt I don’t need.
And, if it’s not about discounts, the barcodes are about access. The YMCA tried to tell me, before they saw the color of my face engorge so rapidly they called an EMT, that if the card stopped scanning because the barcode faded, I’d have to pay for another one.
This may not be on your list of things that you are fed up with but at least this post is NOT about the Pennsylvania primary.
© Pat Coakley 2008
