I know with fascism running amok in the land, I’m supposed to write about Very Serious Things, but, goddamn, CVS (the drug store chain) is pissing me off. The CVS a block from my house would be very convenient for obvious reasons, but nearly everything I might want to buy there is locked up. I’m not kidding; here’s the incomplete list of what’s locked up:
- all dental products (toothpaste, floss, mouthwash)
- toilet paper
- paper towels
- napkins
- other plastic/paper stuff (cups etc.)
- all hair care stuff (shampoo etc.)
- nearly every kind of cleaning supply
- anything to do with laundry (detergent, fabric softener)
Of course, all of this stuff is in different cabinets, so if I want to buy several of the items on the list, I need to have the worker with the key follow me around the store. I understand they’re worried about shoplifting in a low margin business–and the locked up goods are typically those that can be fenced online (e.g., food typically isn’t locked up, but toilet paper doesn’t go bad, so it’s easy to fence). But this is nearly useless. Unless it’s an emergency, it’s as if they want me to buy goods online, which are likely fenced.
I really would like the D.C. Council to work on some policy to liberate the toilet paper.
mikethemadbiologist
In the mid 70s I worked at Best Products. They had a showroom where you selected items you wanted and warehouse workers upstairs (that’s where I worked) sent down the orders.
That might be a good answer for situations where there’s a high incidence of theft
Getting scripts filled is as big a pain. The weird lunch schedule aside (1-2:30) now that they’ve installed data input devices (tap 1st 3 chars 1st nm, 1st 3 chars lst nm, mo & day ob) at the registers to speed things up … that some people a) just can’t seem to figure out or b) just being anally retentive about it. I feel your pain but learned long ago there’s nothing on the shelves at the CVS around the corner I can’t get across he street …
At least around NYC it’s not just CVS but Duane Read/Walgreens too. Not Rite Aid -because there aren’t any any more. I needed toothpaste at Walgreens so I went across the street to one of the many Asian owned 99 cents stores around here in southern Brooklyn and bought it for cheap there instead. Walgreen’s also often features Buy One Get One Half Off on vitamins etc. with only one on the shelf. In both cases it’s the 99 cents store or (sorry) Amazon.