Safeway sucks

Yesterday I railed about Bloom's nearly complete lack of customer service and exceptionally high prices. However, after a quick shopping trip yesterday, I'm taking potshots at Bloom's rival, Safeway.

I stopped in last evening to pick up a prescription and ended up buying a few things I'd mysteriously forgotten I needed. (Why does this always happen to me at the grocery store?!) While standing in line, I decided I'd buy a pack of sugar-free Orbit Gum. I've been buying this particular confection for years, usually for about $1.09 a pack. Sometimes it even goes on sale for 99 cents.

Not at Safeway, not anymore. Orbit Gum is now a whopping $1.49 a pack. That's a 25 percent increase in price! Is there some cartel I don't know about that's protecting and ratcheting up the cost of gum? According to Reuters, Wrigley increased prices by 10 percent in 2007:

Wrigley said the increase was due in part to rising costs, but did not specify which costs. Food companies have been hit by higher costs for natural sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup as demand for use of crops in ethanol has sent prices soaring.

Okay, so what about the additional 15 percent increase? That's Safeway gouging its customers. According to Forbes.com, Safeway focused this year on costly real estate investments. "Chairman and Chief Executive Steve Burd said Safeway chose to work less on lowering prices in 2008 to keep its earnings guidance intact in the current economic environment. Now it is planning to cut more prices heading into 2009." It's going to have to as shoppers to reduce their spending during the recession/depression and look for more frugally priced grocery stores.

Hopefully we consumers can encourage Safeway and its ilk to drop prices by taking our dollars to discounters such as Wal-Mart, Bottom Dollar, Target, and the like. Here's one cost-savings tip: buy your Orbit Gum at Walgreens. It's only $1.19 a pack.

Another Great Depression?

Four dollars for a gallon of milk? Almost $50 to fill up my VW Beetle? And today there is a report that Thailand, like the rest of Asia, is restricting rice exports like OPEC limits sales of oil thereby driving up prices, increasing food shortages, and guaranteeing starvation.

I don't know about you, but this is horrifying. Someone needs to do something! But who is in charge? George Bush, the lamest lame duck of all time. Mr. 28-Percent-Approval-Rating has nothing to do but dance - over and over again. You never see Bush give a policy speech; the only reason he makes the news is because he struck some lame dance pose.



We're also victims of an unending presidential primary. I am not advocating for the coronation of Barack Obama; like Hillary, I think the votes for Florida and Michigan should be counted (how can it possibly be constitutional or morally right otherwise?).

But I don't care who wins at this point, as long as it is a Democrat who will get us out of Iraq in the next ten minutes. Why are we wasting billions of dollars on a horrendous situation we cannot change? We need an international Serenity Prayer here, people: God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference. The only thing we change change is ourselves. Bring those dollars home. Now. So we can buy oil and rice.

Jesus, I'm depressed. Yes, this is the Great Depression. We should all be depressed.