For convenience's sake

I am on record against grocery shopper loyalty cards, the despised Kroger Plus Card in particular. Kroger was unfortunate enough to provide my first exposure to this insidious creation and paid the price for it. I stopped shopping there altogether and haven't looked back. All hail Meijer and its resistance to the shopper loyalty card.

I've been fighting my war of passive aggression for perhaps as long as a decade, but a moment's weakness has undone the long battle. A couple weeks ago I was tired and getting home late but needed to pick up one item. A Kroger is across the street from my apartment. Going to Meijer meant adding ten minutes to my trip as it isn't on the way home. I decided that I was willing to pay the higher price and go to Kroger to save time.

Sure enough, it would have cost me an extra dollar or two since I didn't have a Kroger Plus Card. I was ready to pay the added cost, but the helpful cashier tracked down a shiny new loyalty card and gave it to me along with a reminder to fill out and drop off the personal information on the application. When I asked if I needed to complete that section, she said that I did if I wanted to receive coupons in the mail.

I accepted that card with no intention of ever filling out and giving my particulars to the store. I decided that it would be useful to have the card on hand for instances when it's simply more convenient to go to the closer grocery. Granted, it's always more convenient, but I was thinking of the times I only need one or two things. Plus, on the rare occasions when I've gone there, I've always felt a need to explain why I don't have one of these cards, which probably just makes me sound like a jerk.

My Kroger Plus card remains anonymous, but I must confess to shopping there a few more times since getting it (and I kind of hate myself for doing this). I still and will do the bulk of my grocery shopping at the store that hasn't instituted shopper loyalty cards, but as self-righteous as I'd like to be about the issue, it's so much easier just to pop across the road.