Evil Grocery Store "Rewards Cards"--They Actually Serve a Purpose
Well, considering that the most embarrassing information anyone could ever glean from my purchase history is my increased consumption of beer in high summer, the occasional box of tampons, and my admittedly unreasonable number of lipsticks, I quickly got over the indignation of signing up for the "rewards cards" and went along with it, looking forward to my "rewards" of paying still-too-high "lower prices" at Albertsons (wankers), and the quarterly $15 coupons from Fred Meyer (also known as "guilt free lipstick money").
Anyway. I have a point.
Three weeks ago Brando got very sick. He was doing something that we had NEVER seen him do before: refused to eat. Simply sniffed the food and walked away. Meanwhile, he was throwing up and having major problems at—ahem—the other end, too. He was lethargic, shaking, and generally pathetic.
We took him to the vet and they also noted that Brando's GI tract was very bloody. He assumed that Brando had gotten into something which made him sick (this dog gets in the garbage whenever he can, and actually had done that three days before).
So, it was antibiotics, anti-vomiting meds, and rice and ground beef for four days. Brando actually was good as new after 24 hours. He's a tough dog.
I didn't think much about it until a week later, when I looked at the bottom of the Fred Meyer receipt that was handed to me, and it told me in big letters about dog biscuits we bought there had been recalled because of the peanut butter/Salmonella recall.
Above: Samonella bacteria. They look kinda cute, don't they?
Now. We don't know if Brando had Salmonella poisoning. I did look up Salmonella symptoms in dogs and they are consistent with Brando's symptoms. Maybe he had Salmonella, maybe not. But I was appreciative that my store receipts would notify me if something I had purchased there had a problem.
An additional commentary:
Actually, the biscuits that were recalled on my Fred Meyer receipt were unopened but ready to be used as we were running low on our PRIOR box of biscuits that were the SAME biscuits, SAME brand and flavor, presumably using peanut product from the SAME tainted peanut plant, but were purchased from Albertsons. I have never been alerted by Albertsons about the biscuit recall.
So, kudos to Fred Meyer (which continues to be my favorite store).
And, Albertsons? I still avoid you when I can. And why are your receipts so damn long if you aren't notifying customers about anything useful? Harrumph.
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