Big Brother Is Shopping

I walked into the local QFC supermarket yesterday to buy a couple of things, and I forgot to bring the @#$%&^!* shoppers card. This meant that I had to pay about a fifteen percent penalty. The checker tried to find me in the system, but since I had never filled out or turned in the personal info form, she really wasn't likely to find me. This all reminded me how much I really hate this whole concept. It just results in higher prices. Unfortunately, this particular store is a quarter the distance from my house as the nearest no-card store, so I fudge and do some small purchases there.

Fortunately, there may be some hope of killing the system. Jill Crowson of Bellevue, WA is suing QFC, a local chain for failing to notify her when she bought hamburger meat from a batch that was subsequently recalled for a Mad Cow scare. QFC didn't notify anyone. So Ms. Crowson is making a case that having collected all this intrusive data on our habits, the company has a duty to act when something like this recall comes along. Fear of lawsuits may kill the card system where lazy consumers haven't. I can hope.