MNB reader Theresa M Zaske had some thoughts about the potential end of SNAP benefits because of the federal government shutdown:
I have a nephew with severe disabilities who relies on SNAP. He lives two time zones away from me. My sister and I are figuring out how to help him. That means my sister and I will be spending/saving less, too. This is going to ripple through the economy in some unexpected ways I think. We are determined that my nephew will continue to receive what he needs but it’ll have an impact on my sister and me (we already do what we can to help him; picking up the SNAP slack is going to be tough). I know a mom and kid near me that I have helped with groceries more than once (both driving them to the grocery store some 20 miles away and buying them groceries when SNAP runs out for them). I have taken them to the grocery store in the evening because they have no food in the house. So, now I get to choose between helping my nephew with disabilities and helping a young kid and his single disabled mom.
This is awful.
Agreed.
We’ve had a couple of stories recently about how Amazon plays to lay of hundreds of thousands of people – both at corporate and in its warehouses – because of efficiencies offered by AI.
MNB reader Andy Casey responded:
I’ve been a Prime member since it came into being, and personally bought many thousands of $$ in books and merchandise from Amazon over the years. That is not unusual as the American economy is largely consumer driven and has been for decades. The president’s efforts to bring manufacturing back to our shores notwithstanding, that is not likely to change significantly anytime soon.
So this conversation always strikes me as just a little odd because while it is certainly true that robots don’t demand pay and benefits, they don’t buy anything either.
Certainly, processes need to be made as efficient as possible and while automation will inevitably delete some jobs, the real goal has to be making people more productive rather than simply eliminating them. Henry Ford developed the assembly line to improve efficiency but he also gave his people raises so they could afford his cars.
I did a piece recently about how the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is out with a new study confirming what a lot of us presumed or feared – that increased use of social media by young people results in lower cognitive skills. Businesses should and need to be concerned, I think, since low cognitive abilities in the young people they hire will create all sorts of challenges to both operations and bottom lines.
One MNB reader responded:
I could not agree with you more. I am currently trying to hire for a position on my team. It is typically a role that gives a person coming out of college or with some retail experience an opportunity to connect our customers’ day-to-day with macroeconomic insights to find opportunities and mitigate threats. The candidates I am interviewing coming out of college are functionally illiterate. They unabashedly will tell me they don’t read many books or periodicals and do not have a go to for current events. I am aligned to the push for legislation, it is needed and quickly. I am also a relatively new father (my daughter is 1 year and almost 1 month) and I am constantly thinking about ways to help protect her childhood and her attention from the digital environment.
Thank you as always for your insight and courage in speaking to a myriad of topics.
Thank you for saying that. I appreciate it more than you know.
And good luck with your daughter. I’m really glad that my kids are grown, and never really became social media addicts.
On another subject, one MNB reader wrote:
Reading of Amazon hiring 250,000 positions for the holiday season – and they are in the logistics business. Kroger, the largest US grocer – hosting millions of shoppers each week – is hiring just 18,000 positions for the holidays. Both numbers are remarkable for very different reasons.
True.
Regarding the limited reappearance of Toys R Us stores, MNB reader Mike Moon wrote:
Maybe Toys”R”Us should adopt a business model similar to Spirit of Halloween (and soon to be Spirit of Christmas). Rent a vacant building, hang a banner, hire temporary help, and be open only during the peak season, capturing all those seasonal-minded shoppers. The xmas season kept them alive for years, even before Amazon. Embrace that shopper, but do it with minimal overhead and long term obligations.
We took note recently of an article suggesting that Costco might be losing touch with some of its core values, prompting MNB reader Jerome Schindler to write:
Far be it for me to render suggestions to Costco management, but here goes.
Aisle marker signs in the parking lot would help customers find their cars. They could be on the light poles. I know it would help this octogenarian.
There are a lot of special deals that are not in the monthly mailing. For example, today there was a $2 off a 4 lb bag of apples. Had I not shopped in the produce section I would never have seen and bought that item. So have a sheet listing those to members as they enter the building.
Are they gaining or losing sales because of the package size? I would buy a $20 package of ground beef but have no use for a $40 one. Same for bakery items that are packaged in a reasonable size but you have to buy 2.
Does Costco lose more revenue than they gain from demanding you buy two?
I wonder if the merchandise musical chairs and no aisle signs really have a net positive benefit.
I have often not purchased items I wanted as I could not find them.
I do not have the time nor stamina to spend well over an hour cruising all the aisles.
Also, there is a lot of labor etc. involved in constantly moving stuff around.
There is no charge to management for these common sense observations.
I agree with some of your observations, but would suggest that you may not be their core target customer. Neither am I, for that matter – I just don’t need a $40 package of ground beef.
Life moves on. Retailers move on. Sometimes, customers have to move on, too.
Regarding increasing beef prices, MNB reader David Kent wrote:
Nobody mentions that US Beef producers export roughly 10-15% of production to other countries. What would happen to domestic prices if that stopped?
Fair point.
Responding to our story about the backlash Publix is experiencing for allowing open carry of guns in its Florida stores, one MNB reader wrote:
No way in hell would I ever shop in a store that allows open carry. I imagine there was one loudmouth who kept harassing leadership until they caved in. How can they possibly think that this is the right thing to do?
You know what will bring a smile to my face? When they lose enough customers that they will have to ban guns again. Good luck with that.
At least one loudmouth.
We had a piece the other day about how a Massachusetts state senator is pushing legislation that would limit the number of self-checkouts in grocery stores, which prompted one MNB reader to write:
I am curious where Senator Feeney was when all the toll booths on the Mass Turnpike were eliminated for fast pass/EZ pass transponders. The elimination of the toll positions undermined the biggest source of nepotism in the state. Maybe those family members can now supervise checkouts in the grocery stores.
Regarding some of the challenges that e-commerce and delivery services are creating to US restaurant culture, one MNB reader wrote:
Another aspect of this is as states make major moves upward on minimum wages, technology becomes economically more feasible. To survive many restaurants need to adapt to the changing market. Another interesting concept is Wonder which is basically a pickup only restaurant. It offers menus from 10-12 different restaurants and has a production line kitchen. So if 5 family members have an interest in 5 different restaurant foods, they can place their order with Wonder and pick it up at one location.
There was a quote from one restaurateur that caught another MNB reader’s eye:
The last comment “I want to open a bar with five tables and a huge takeout window.” Made me think of this: Buchette del Vino.
Not used any more, but something Italians figured out centuries ago. The Wine house would have a small window and for some coins you could have your pitcher filled with wine, stumble away or back home. Many building still have these windows from a by gone age, but maybe this is the reboot?
Further proof not much is original we just put new spin onto old records.
This reader also provided a link to a New York City restaurant called Buchette del Vino that, to be honest, I was not familiar with – though I may have passed it numerous times. I will have to check it out.
One MNB reader liked my piece about exceptional service from the US Postal Service:
The USPS deserves way more credit than they get for Customer Service! They’re the ones who notice when mail piles up and check on residents! My former South Norwalk mail carrier Terrell Johnson was always the first to receive my Christmas card (with his allowed holiday gift card) and provided the 1st official reaction to my creation. I’ve moved to a new Street and I miss waving to him in his truck!
My regular mail carrier carries dog biscuits with him. When the dogs hear his truck coming down the street, they immediately go to the door, hoping to be let down so he can toss them treats. (The downside is that they cannot tell one mail truck from another – when I take them for a walk, if they see a mail truck they expect a treat.)
And finally, one MNB reader had some thoughts about two stories I did – one about the anti-tariff ad produced by the province of Ontario, using the words of Ronald Reagan to make their point, and the other waxing rhapsodic about the World Series:
Canadian Ad – It has so many views because one very insecure thin skinned person elevated it to the absolute maximum. And the world gets an education on tariffs!
Baseball – Yes! The greatest game! You never know what you may see from one at bat to another. And we are blessed with the World Baseball Classic in 2026! Life is good.
The post Your Views: Hard Choices appeared first on MNB.
View Original Article
