I just got banned by twitter for six days for telling Walgreens I hope they get herpes of the eye so it hurts when they look at spreadsheets and try to cut more employee hours and count their profits.
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mrmoshpotato
Not all heroes wear overalls, but Cole does.
Kropacetic
C’mon, Cole, COVID’s “over” and business is down 15%*. Obviously this necessitates cutting a third* the hours and raising prices.
*Numbers made up, attitude accurate
Gravenstone
You rebel you.
Odie Hugh Manatee
There ought to be a medal or award for this.
Kropacetic
@Odie Hugh Manatee: There is. Twitter awarded it to him. Six days of peace.
JAFD
I actually live near a Walgreen’s get my prescripts there.Ā Couple of months ago, was waiting at prescript counter, when Big Boss came out from reviewing the troops.Ā Went up, told him more staff needed, every time I come in, lines of people waiting in that store …
debbie
@JAFD:
CVS is even worse anymore.
Shalimar
The one I hate is CVS.Ā the 2 near me have prices on over-the-counter medicine that is literally 3-4 times what it costs elsewhere.Ā Ā No clue why anyone shops there.
schrodingers_cat
Not satire, this is an actual op-ed
randal m sexton
I will appeal to Elon on your behalf. Iām sure he will think that wishing someone eye ball herpes is frreeeeddddooommm of speeeeech
Kropacetic
@Shalimar: When two companies own 80 percent of any entire industry all they need to worry about is maximizing their money.
Service, prices, inventory; none of that matters. The competition is basically the same.
Raoul Paste
Herpes of Ā of the eye is really creative
Now thatās style
Nicole
I know someone who, when his herpes acts up, gets it in the eyeball.Ā It’s no joke.Ā He’s lucky he hasn’t lost vision yet.
Walgreens deserved it.Ā Well done, sir.
Andrya
@Kropacetic:Ā Ā No, no, no, Kropacetic, you will never make a Randian capitalist superhero.Ā TheĀ situation calls for raising the per-employee hours but cutting pay enough so that, while working more hours, they take home less money.
Kropacetic
@Andrya: I mean it’s not like the serfs have bills to pay. Who would trust them with that responsibility?
@Raoul Paste: What some see as creative is often just the creator’s experience. Jus’ saying…
debbie
@Shalimar:
Insurance, unfortunately.
Ken
Help me out here. If Musk takes over, will Walgreens not be able to ban Cole because he’s exercising his free speech? Or will nothing change because Walgreens is subscribed at the Twitter Platinumā¢ level, and John is using the free account?
Shalimar
@Kropacetic: 20 years ago, sure.Ā But I can stock up online on every medicine I may potentially need for what one of them costs in an emergency from CVS.
AJ
@schrodingers_cat: ooh link please so we can share it with DougJ
AJ
John’s Twitter ban: achievement unlocked
Eljai
I’m just kind of curious how they came up with six days.Ā Herpes of the eye = six days suspension but suffering boils while picking nits off your sweater gets a month?Ā Asking for a friend.
David ? āThe Establishmentā? Koch
First they came for Walgreens, but I said nothing because I didn’t have herpes
Juju
@Shalimar: I loathe CVS. I have never been in a CVS that didnāt smell bad, so I try not to actually set foot into one. The only reason I have my motherās prescriptions there is because we were required to use CVS the years she had Aetna Medicare Advantage. Aetna owns CVS. Their child-proof caps are a royal pain to open , but the 24 hrs thing that Walgreens has here and the fact that the store here doesnāt stink would be the reasons to switch back to Walgreens. To me itās a coin flip. They both suck, but I donāt quite loathe Walgreens the way I loathe CVS.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
OT – I forgot to mention that the funniest episode of last week was when a GQP candidate for the state senate (who is running against a very physically attractive woman who is cynically campaigning on āfreedom, 2A and abortionā slogans Iām not sure sheās in to) launched into a āIām into abortion issues, guns, fighting China, whining about Biden and inflationā before stating āyouāre talking about roads – I ran over a dog on my way here and it was devastating but I thought it important to be here to talk about these issues. Oh, and my first vote was for Nixon and Iām a diehard Republican. Iām a Nixon Republican.ā
Crowd was 2/3 rural Democrat. Theyāre conservadems, and only care about products to market.
Kropacetic
@Shalimar: This is true. Though bear in mind that mail order pharmacy is similarly concentrated in few hands. CVS Caremark is a huge one. They use their ownership of people’s plans and contracting with other plans to literally force people into their pharmacies or mail order service.
Also mail order has some disadvantages of its own. Delays often take longer to resolve and it can be hard to speak to a pharmacist.
The problem isn’t retail or mail is better. We just need some good old-fashioned trust busting.
Juju
@schrodingers_cat: I think my brain just exploded.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: Who wrote that?
Geoduck
Walgreens lost my business years ago when the CEO at the time tried to move their headquarters to Switzerland to avoid paying any US taxes. There was a huge public outcry and he backed down. Fortunately there are other options in my blue-ish town in a blue state.
CaseyL
Hey, I saw those tweets!Ā I was there, baby, at the scene!
(And no, I didn’t report you.Ā One, I just don’t do that.Ā And, two, it would never have occurred to me that you said anything objectionable.)
sheraprick
gene108
Took a quick look. Walgreensā stock prices have been dropping all year. They are profitable. Growth projections are lower than other pharma-retailers.
I really find businesses having to be so sensitive to the stock market to be the real drag on the ordinary working person for the past 40 years.
It has done more to grind down the middle class than anything else.
JanieM
@zhena gogolia:
Um…..
Here.
Are you surprised?
gene108
@schrodingers_cat:
Itās a good take. Itāll drive a lot of hate reading the authorās way. I donāt think most op-Edās are written to be taken seriously anymore. Itās all about getting attention.
Danielx
@Eljai:
Could so have done without that image.
MikefromArlington
I got a warning on Facebook for saying I hope Putin will be in front of a firing squad when the Russian people realize heās lying why heās in Ukrain. Ā Next violation will be a ban.
Mike in NC
New show on HBO called “We Own This City” about corrupt cops in Baltimore. Pretty decent; people behind “The Wire” involved. We’ve yet to check that one out. Too many shows and not enough time. Switching to “Ozark” after a break.
NotMax
So let me get this straight. You got wrist slapped for writing something which if it had been posted by anyone else on your blog would merit them a time-out?
;)
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: Some Republican operative called Doug McKinnon in the Hill.
dww44
@debbie: Yep. Ā I was there yesterday to pick up photo cards Iād done online. Ā There was a self help kiosk that was triggered by anyone walking by. Downright spooky. Ā Merchandise was pricey pre inflation Ā but they are insane now. Ā I priced items that I buy Ā elsewhere and I will do without if I have to. Ā Their aisles are slap full of merchandise but the store was mostlyĀ empty. Ā Their business plan seem idiotic to me.
dww44
@Shalimar: Agree.
dww44
@MikefromArlington: wow. Ā Their moderators are either pro Putin or simply lacking in common sense and judgement.
different-church-lady
Gonna be the best six days of your life!
Suzanne
I hate most of the drugstores I ever enter. We have a CVS down the street where Mr. Suzanne and SuzMom get their prescriptions, but I only go there to pick them up. I go to Target or BigBezos for my own personal care items.
Alison Rose ???
FTFNYT has moved their Russia coverage down the home page so they can put up a huge fucking graphic about their three-part rim job on Tucker Carlson. (I don’t care if it’s mostly critical of him, for someone like that, any publicity is good publicity.)
God, what a rag.
dexwood
@different-church-lady: A vacation.
Kay
Probably the part of the NYTimes Tucker Carlson story that will enrage him the most. He’s had about 7000 guests and a lot of them used to disagree with him- they’re the yellow dots. As the years go on there are fewer and fewer yellow dots until 2022, which is just a sea of grey- all agreement. None of his guests disagree with him now. So he either persuaded these guests to go full white nationalist or he simply stopped inviting anyone who disagrees with him.
dmsilev
Wait, I thought the Grand High Musk hath proclaimed that Free Speech Ā Shall Reign Across Twitter, and none shall be moderated for saying anything that is technically legal. What happened?
different-church-lady
“Some day this
war’ssocial media platform’s gonna end.”[Nods]
[Stands, walks off screen right.]
trollhattan
IMHO a Twitter or FB ban should be at the top of one’s CV.
The struggle is real.
Don’t know how many folks know about “We’re the Millers” but it’s must-see in my canon.
RaflW
@gene108: That kind of short-termism is what turned Boeing from a great engineering company, to a ‘cash cow’, to a total disaster that pushed out deadly planes and now can’t deliver a 787 or come up with any innovative designs.
Starfish
Imani got a cute new dog and posted a video, and you don’t get to see it because you were being rude to your drugstore on Twitter. For shame!
Jay
Polar bear sighting,
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/polar-bear-gaspe-1.6437187
So it looks like my idea of getting politicians to get off their asses about Climate Change by bussing them south and letting them loose on Ottawa streets was not that far fetched,………
different-church-lady
@gene108: When you already own half the drug stores in the whole country there’s not a lot of room for growth.
RaflW
@MikefromArlington: The following tweet got my account locked. I agreed to delete it, because it was a throwaway anyway, but the AI thought I was engaged in “harassing other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.”
I guess the AI saw “you” and “skank ass” and thought it was a slur. I was just insulting some guy’s footwear! sheesh.
NotMax
@Jay
Busing.
Bussing a bear a whole ‘nother kink.
:)
sdhays
@schrodingers_cat: It’s amazing that they never seem to print Op-Eds like this from Democratic hacks. I mean, I know there’s a hack gap, but this, I think, you could find someone to write.
dm
@Alison Rose ???: Given Tucker’s Putinphilia, having a big article about him above the fold isn’t actually moving their Russia coverage down….
Another Scott
@Jay:
It’s good to not claim expertise when one doesn’t have it. But the coloring is a pretty good clue in this case, I think.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ken
@Another Scott: It might be like the alligator-crocodile difference, so you have to walk up to the bear and inspect its teeth to be sure whether it’s a polar bear or a white grizzly bear. I can live with the uncertainty.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, …
Sounds like a hep party.
Cheers,
Scott.
Feathers
Walgreens is easy walking distance and I donāt have a car, so if I need to pick something up, thatās where I end up.
But itās the weirdest place. Weāre a walkable streetcar suburb and everything is flush with the main street. Except Walgreens. Itās at the back of a large parking lot, which is always empty, because people walk here. Itās got the strangest vibe. Like in a town of cool, lefty hipsters, this is where the people who would actually be in a David Lynch film hang out.
The prices are so strange. Itās always like Original price: $9, on sale 2/$6. And the everyday price really is $9. I go there for real emergencies, but I also do check the sales circular I get, because if they want to lose money selling me frozen pizza and breakfast cereal, why not?
The guys in the pharmacy counter who gave me my Covid shots are awesome, though. They ran a tight and friendly ship on that. Appreciated.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Another Scott: could be the very rare hybrid bear…
Bill Arnold
@schrodingers_cat:
That was LOL funny.
This guy: Douglas MacKinnon served in the White House as a writer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush…
(not the Good Omens guy) and for the curious,
Should Democrats concede the White House in 2024 to win in 2028? (DOUGLAS MACKINNON, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR – 04/30/22)
Our answer is NO. The Republican party should disintegrate into factions that attempt to harm each other, and leave governing and power to the Adults in the Democratic Party.
Jay
@Ken:
Quebec doesnāt have Grizzly Bears, Ā they have Black Bears, but none with the Kermode gene.
leads to the usual bear jokes, from the scat is filled with brass bells and smells like pepper spray to the āyou donāt come here for the hunting, do you?ā
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Jay:
Not good – their habitats are changing, and when they decide that their new food sources are domestic dogs and farm animals as opposed to the seals they canāt getā¦.
joel hanes
The Bay Area used to have a superb local drugstore chain, Long’s Drug *
A bit better quality merchandise than Walgreens, excellent service, nicer stores, well-staffed pharmacies with extended hours.
They sold out to CVS, and CVS destroyed everything about the stores that made them better.Ā I moved to Walgreens, but Walgreens isn’t as well run, and had to pay a big settlement recently because they’d been making their pharmacists work too many consecutive hours without a paid lunch break (because understaffing).
* In Fallout 4, the settlers Marcy Long and Jun Long are refugees from Quincy, where before they were pushed out by Raiders were operating a drug store, Long’s Drug
joel hanes
@Feathers:Ā ā
tās always like Original price: $9, on sale 2/$6.
Walgreen’s purchases cheaply huge lots of not-very-perishable foodstuffs, shortly before the best-if-eaten-before date, and then makes them sale items. I had to quit buying Diamond almonds and Planters nut products at Walgreens, because very frequently the almonds were dried out and hard, or the oils in the nuts were just beginning to turn.
I wouldn’t think it would be a problem with frozen pizzas, though.
gene108
@different-church-lady:
Institutional investors donāt care. A business has to find ways to grow. Iām sure there are internet based pharmacy business models out there that CVS and Walgreens are looking at for growth potential.
Running a profitable business, with healthy cash reserves that took care of its employees, as a business model, died a swift death in the 1980ās, when the Reagan administration green-lighted M&A deals that wouldnāt have been approved in prior administrations from FDR to Carter.
All the downsizing and outsourcing thatās hurt the American middle class & working class has roots in the junk bond acquisitions and hostile takeovers of the 1980ās. The long term damage the change in corporate culture this ushered in doesnāt get reported much anymore, but it has a large role in why we are where we are.
Brachiator
@Bill Arnold:
This op-ed piece is part of a dumb journalistic convention. It must also be a slow news day. An opinion piece written by a Republican about Democrats is generally by definition a waste of time. Nobody is meant to take it seriously, but it gets written anyway.
ETA. I took a nap because some medication I am taking for an injury made me drowsy. Woke up to take a look at Balloon Juice and also see that the White House Correspondents Dinner is on. Never ever watched it before. It’s like the Golden Globes with more boring people.
Dangerman
@Alison Rose ???: Clockwise or Counterclockwise?
/ted
gene108
@RaflW:
I donāt know why MacDonaldās assumes pants as a given item of clothing in the āno shirt, no shoes, no serviceā policy.
NotMax
Yeah, Long’s was entrenched throughout Hawaii. Then CVS bought them out (signage still advertises them as Long’s). Whole tenor of the place changed. First thing they did with the one closest to me was reorient the shelving to no longer run the length of the store, but now the width, which multiplies congestion
– – – – –
OT.
“Gee, your house smells terrific.”
Fried up a big batch of chicken livers (in chicken fat), now sauteeing a mess o’ onions in the same pan.
All because yesterday had a sudden intense urge for chopped liver. Nearest supermarket had a selection of two varieties (both frozen). One packaged by the store’s meat department, the other some branded version. The former a pleasing 69 cents a pound, the latter an unbelievably exorbitant $2.39 a pound.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax:
Madness.
Ruckus ??
@Juju:
I was going to comment earlier but have been on a call for the last couple of hrs. I get most of my meds from the VA but some of them cost less from CVS or most any other drugstore. Around me CVS has the most stores and the prices are reasonable. Now as to the smell I have zero sense of smell so I can’t answer that one. But the stores are clean, reasonably stocked and priced here. And yes I’ve been in other drug stores around here in SoCal and the prices are equal in most of them as well as in the stuff sold in the grocery stores. Maybe it’s because of the population, LA county has a larger population than 40 entire states.
Ken
@NotMax: Reminds me of the sign in one of Terry Pratchett’s novels:
CURRY …. 2p
CURRY WITH MEAT … 3p
CURRY WITH NAMED MEAT … 10p
CarolPW
@joel hanes: One could look up the aflatoxin levels in peanuts as they age, and then the biological consequences from aflatoxin exposure. Cheap peanuts is not a very good trade for cancer.
Brachiator
@different-church-lady:
The Vons supermarket near me sells most of the same drugs that are on sale at the Walgreens across the street from it. Vons also has a prescription desk. The Walgreens also sells knickknacks and other junk that you find at the 99 cent store, and that used to be stocked at Woolworths, and other small bargain stores. I don’t even know why Walgreens and CVS are still in business. Also, I have Kaiser, and get prescriptions by mail from them, so I don’t even have much need to go to the drugstore for anything.
When I was a kid, I would go to a local drugstore that had an ice cream counter to buy burgers and banana splits. Later, as an older teen and young adult, I think I went to a Thrifty drugstore to buy contraceptives over the counter. Otherwise, can’t really recall ever really going there for stuff.
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
Grandmother would be horrified but I forged ahead and deglazed the pan (gotta get all that yummy fond) with a small splash of brandy.
Ruckus ??
@Suzanne:
Target here in SoCal has a CVS inside as their drug store. It isn’t open as long every day as Target is.
Benw
Speaking of rebelliousness, I found this blast from the past tonight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyoV6mk74_o
If you click through I hope you like your Puerto Rican thrash metal licks heavy AF!
eclare
CVS always seems dirty to me because it is carpeted.Ā I don’t even have any carpet or rugs in my house!
prostratedragon
Good!
Ivan X
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: is she available? If so, Iād vote for her.
Ivan X
Also, I have no great love for CVS, but the pharmacists at mine (and also the next nearest one) are genuinely nice people, and when some med is outrageously expensive, even after insurance, theyāll sometimes volunteer to look for coupons or promos, sometimes yielding a fraction of the original cost.
Ivan X
@Brachiator: you should have watched the one where Obama forced Trump to run for President.
Subsole
@gene108:
If they want attention they should set themselves on fire.
They’ll be the center of attention for the rest of their lives. Which seems to be all they actually care about, anyway.
Feathers
@joel hanes: Thanks for the heads up. Itās mostly junky stuff. I donāt buy it from the grocery store, but do sometimes indulge when itās on sale at Walgreens. Makes sure it is occasional and it doesnāt stay around long.
The Up and Up
I got banned from Facebook in 2020 for posting that Trump hates strong woman and frankly all woman in general. No obscenities other than the truth.
The Up and Up
@RaflW: A retired Business lecturer from a California college opined that Boeing should just break into the vending machine industry. They cannot do anything right anymore why not do the spare change and product line?
Brachiator
@Ivan X:
I read about that one. It was more than sufficient.
prostratedragon
President Joe at WHCA:
TS (the original)
@gene108:
Just the top executives, they get their $$$billion bonuses based on the share price.
HeartlandLiberal
I was banned for seven days last year for asking why wasn’t Rush Limbaugh dead dead yet. Seven days.
Recently I got a 24 hour ban for wondering why the French wax museum that removed Putin’s wax figure did not remove his head with a guillotine. Good company.
lowtechcyclist
@schrodingers_cat:Ā ā
I’m almost afraid to ask who wrote something that dumb. Like there’d even be a small-d democratic election in 2028 under those circumstances.
Nancy
Wegmans Pharmacy: if the lines get too long, staff open more registers. Customer service; what a concept. Stores are also clean.
Wegmans is regional, in the Northeast.
evodevo
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: or those two-leggeds who can’t run very fast…
SW
Twitter suspensions are so weird. Ā All the vile shit on there and then you will say something tongue in cheek and it flips them out. Ā I got suspended once for telling someone to go ahead and “knock yourself out” like you know, just do whatever you you are going to do. Ā But no, I was advocating “self harm”! Ā Recently I made a comment about wearing socks with flip flops being unacceptable unless it was after your second heart attack, at which point you can put any damn thing on your feet you want. Ā That was apparently beyond the pale and bought me a 24 hour suspension! Ā Weird. Ā At first you are offended and then you realize that they have spared you 24 hours of wasting time on Twitter.
xjmuellerlurks
Geez Cole, we’ve watched you go from angry young warblogger to an older wiser family, house, garden, and soup blogger; from an alcoholic accident waiting to happen (the waits were sometimes short) to a more zen-like sober home owner with thoughtfully expressed opinions.Ā And now this.Ā Life is a great journey – keep up the good fight.Ā (I love the “herpes of the eye” dis – it’s damn poetic and they deserve it.)
Another Scott
I’ve never seen the whole movie, but the scene in the movie always cracks me up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO9ysLspb4Q
Cheers,
Scott.