I was shopping today and for some reason, I began to really take notice of how we consumers are being ripped off by corporations in the name of a, 'bad economy.' I have seen for the last few years that the sugar companies took us out of five pound bags and charge us the same or more for a 4 pound bag.
Today, I was at Safeway and went to purchase the grandkids some ice cream and realized Safeway is charging the same price for a 1.5 quart container of their brand of ice cream in lieu of what used to be a 2 quart container. It doesn't even feel the same, the box is smaller and I think I will stick making my own.
We get less papertowels on our rolls and toilet paper as well and we wonder why we go through so much in such a short time. We are being ripped off my corporations who are taking advantage of those that support them and frankly I am tired of it!
I was at Taco Bell the other day and ordered a burrito and you guessed it, they are even smaller. I think I will eat at my local Mexican Food restaurant where the food is still great, plentiful and priced well.
What disturbs me, is that we are so willing to take this in stride, not complain, not protest, but just take it. If we quit buying the products from the companies that are truly trying to rip us off and purchase from the companies that aren't, we would send a very loud message to those that do.
Unfortunately, I think Americans have lost our back bone, our fight and all we want to do is sit in our houses and take the path to socialism as we are headed. We allow the gas companies to raise the cost of fuel any time the wind changes direction and accept it while we drive our huge SUV's and call it 'THE ECONOMY.'
If we don't fight back, soon we will no longer be the land of the free, but the land of the duped. After all, we allowed the banks to fall on their faces, gave them government loans while the rest of us were loosing our retirement, our homes, our jobs.
It starts with charging us more for less and we are becoming very much like the frog that sits in a pan of water while the water gets hotter and hotter until it boils and the frog dies. We should be like the frog that fights like hell avoiding going into the pot in the first place.
If you think this is just an empty rant, Albert Einstein once said:
'The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
9 comments:
I agree 100%. But I think our best power is in #s. Maybe pick on one store at a time. My rant is with Starbucks (way over priced, yet people keep buying from them).
SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
I have noticed this trend for a while now and I cannot believe that the American consumer has not raised more complaints as a result.
About a year ago I bought a can of tuna fish and was appalled by the contents. I was paying for albacore and what I found in the can closely resembled cat food. Then I noticed how small the can had gotten. It's not bad enough that a can of tuna is small to start off, but this was downright insulting.
The dumbing down of the American consumer by the corporate food giants is despicable and yet we continue to purchase their products with nary a complaint. Are we hostage to their scalping or just complacent?
Sew Cal Gal, where the power is, is in written numbers. If you have a group that will take the time to track down CEO information and address and write letters, they will listen. As far as SBucks goes, the only time I ever go is when someone gifts me with a gift card. I can buy a can of 7-11
French Vanilla for $2.99 and it lasts me two weeks, less than 25 cents a cup. Most people go for the status I think!
Karen, we are LAZY thats what! To lazy and complacent to sit down and write a letter to anyone about what we see. My hubby gave me the ultimate compliment when our son was here and he was angry at me about something I told him to do. He told our son,'one thing I know as sure as it rains in Washington, if your mom tells you to do something it is because she has researched it and knows what she is talking about.' Read my comments on at&t trying to slam our phone service away from us. My husband works for a telephone company, why on earth would we switch to the competition? I plan on doing some different things in 2010 for food, products, etc., and once again, I hope to buy something handmade at least once a month, can my own veggies and fruit and do my best to avoid WalMart at all costs!
I agree 100% but it seems like there is so little that can be done. And I am avoiding Walmart also. They are making them look like K-marts in our area and the quality of stuff is getting worse all the time. Where does the good stuff go? Or is there any good stuff.
Linda
HQN, we need to be more vocal and write letters and if you know someone who agrees let them write letters. The good stuff goes to JCPenny, Kohls, Target, Macys, Nordstroms and if you watch for sales, you will always win and these retailers actually care about us! You can also purchase things from handmade shops through my sidebar, Etsy, ArtFire and Zibbet!
as an ice cream lover, I noticed this one right off.....especially the dryers or breyers...who are they fooling with that little carton anyway?
It is true our packages are getting smaller and the price either stays the same or higher. When I first noticed this a few months ago it was with my Dreyers ice cream. I was not very happy about it when hubby brought it home and I saw how small the packaging was. I wrote to Dreyers to let them know I was not happy and will not be buying their brand again. They sent me an explanation and some coupons which I never used. If you live in So. Cal, we have Henry's and they have their ice cream and it's just as good and it 1.75 qt. sizes. I do shop very carefully after I found out about the shrinking packages. I am not shy about letting these corporations know how I feel. They may be big but if there's enough of us voicing our opinions, eventually they will listen.
Kim:
You are the third person that has named Dreyers as a source of contention. I am thinking Dreyers had better take notice and so should Safeway!
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