Dollars are essentially votes

Folks who know me realize that I like to get good value for my dollar.  Some folks have called me cheap.  I don’t think that is really the case.   I just remember a concept I learned back in high school economics.  Whenever you make a purchase, you are effectively casting a dollar vote for that product.  More to the point you are voting on the pricing of that product.  I just like to be careful with my voting. 

I was in Walgreens to buy a bag ice.  Yes it is a little high in there, but the combined cost of gas to the grocery store and the cheaper ice there were greater than the price of the ice at Walgreens.  I have done the calculations.

 In front of me checking out was a young lady who looked like she was in her early 20s.  She was dressed in a security guard’s uniform like she was coming or going to work.  I learned as a furniture salesman years ago that you cannot always make assumptions about a person’s economic situation based on their clothing.  But generally speaking clothes, especially those worn for work, give an indication.  I am assuming she was not making a killing with her paycheck.

 She had on the counter a bottle of hand lotion, a sack of candy, and 3 or 4 drinks in containers suited for a single individual.  The drinks were a mixed offering of juices, teas, and vitamin water.  Her total bill for this came to $17.00.  She paid for it with two separate pieces of plastic.  Why, I am not sure.  If she had not used the plastic I might have assumed she was also purchasing for co-workers.

 I would bet a paycheck this is not the first time she has purchased items of this ilk from Walgreens or a convenience store.  She also had the strong odor of cigarettes.  All this strikes me as dollar votes to not get ahead.   Of course, she may have still been living at home with her parents and not worried about the day to day bills so many of us face.

 It always bothers me other folks overpay as it reinforces the market tendency to get all the market will bear.  And then the prices rise for me too.  But I suppose that capitalism in action.