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I
am posting this blog entry as more of a request that people give me
their feedback regarding whether they believe their local grocery
stores have an apparent agenda. My husband and I went to a couple
grocery stores this weekend and I walked away contemplating this
notion. The most popular grocery stores in Arizona are Fry's,
Basha's, Safeway and Albertson's.
We paid a visit to Albertson's
a couple weeks ago and I left feeling like herded cattle. The
cashier appeared bothered that we were in her line at all as she
practically threw every item we had purchased across the scanner and to
the bagger who shoved frozen shrimp in with a bag of bread. As I
removed the bread from the bag and advised the bagger that it
might be a better idea to put an item like this with things that won't
potentially leak shrimp juice all over it, the cashier muttered off
some incomprehensible phrase in about a quarter of a second. My
family typically does not shop at Albertson's because they are known to
be the highest priced grocery store out here and they don't double
coupons; however, they were having a HUGE sale on frozen shrimp.
After leaving the store I said, "It was as if they were in a race to
get rid of us. What are they timed or something?" To my
surprise he said that they are, in fact, timed and that if they don't
mention the "special of the day" they can be fired. So THAT is
what that incomprehensible utterance was! Obviously their efforts
toward time management had gone terribly wrong...
This weekend we stopped into Safeway...another
high priced grocer, but our options are few and far between in our area
of town. I walked in the door and noticed the posterboard with
Melissa Etheridge's photo on it advertising her new CD in support of
Breast Cancer Awareness. Now, don't get me wrong, I have NO
qualms about Breast Cancer Awareness merchandise, but Melissa Etheridge
was more apparent to me than the cause she was supporting. As we
gathered our groceries I realized they were playing Melissa Etheridge
on the overhead speakers and as I approached the lines that seemed
forever long (no self serve stations at Safeway), my eyes happened upon
the advertisments above the cashier's stations that were lit up with
"Will and Grace" on down the line. I left the store feeling their
agenda was more about a lifestyle than a cause. All of that said,
I didn't even mention the Paris Hilton magazine cover that featured her
barely covering her breasts. Just what I want my daughters to
aspire to...
I try my best not to go to Basha's
because I was aware that fair amounts of money are given to Planned
Parenthood by Eddie Basha. I am not pro-choice by any means and
hate to even indirectly support a cause if I am aware. I tried to
find some recent information on Eddie and Basha's and came to find out
that five thousand dollars was given to Planned Parenthood in 2004, and
that he also strongly supported Peter Hershberger, a liberal republican
with a pro-abortion track record, in 2004. Ironically, Basha's
has partnered up with Arizona Right to Life, a pro-life organization,
by allowing patrons of their store to donate 1% of their grocery
spending to the organization if you ask specifically for it to be
donated to the cause and refer to code 27757 in the process. You
can be assured that if I ever have a need to stop in Basha's I will be
requesting this!
My favorite grocery store of all is Fry's!
They always have great deals, double coupons, and I hadn't noticed
until this weekend's evalutation, but they passed my "agenda test"
well. I did not see the Paris Hilton magazine even on their rack
so there was no need to explain why "that girl doesn't have a shirt
on". I also noticed that Fry's had innumerable items for sale in
support of Breast Cancer Awareness month. They had displays set
up throughout the store that were clearly dedicated to the purpose of
the month. There were candles, pins, t-shirts (that were covering
the magazine racks in the front of the store, I might add - but, yes,
we lifted them to see if they were concealing any Paris Hiltons...none
to be found), and many other items. I was so pleased with my
experience there...moreso than I would have typically been because I
was able to compare them to their competitors.
I
know there are few to none that will probably make it to the end of
this entry, but if you do and you have noticed something different in
your own state at your grocery stores, I would be interested to know.
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• Oct. 10, 2005 - Untitled Comment
Peggy
http://www.hiddenhavenhomestead.blogspot.com/