The other day, at the checkout in Tesco, I was given a small purple disc. What's this? Is it a bitcoin? One of those thingies that go in the trolley to make the pound coin spit out at you? A reward for good behaviour? I have no idea so I ask the checkout person [typically I would call her a checkout lady but I'm not sure women like being called ladies any more]. Apparently it's for voting which charity should be supported by Tesco this (next?) month. "How do I do that, friendly checkout person?" "You put the disc in the vote slot you see by the exit".
I've not had one of these before so it's either a new scheme or, more likely, you need to have spent more than a certain amount that day. I tend to shop frequently in small batches rather than the reverse. Anyway, I carried the disc around for a few days, because I kept forgetting to look for the voting machine. I am generally in a hurry to leave because supermarkets are ghastly places.
But today ... I remembered.
Here am I facing the machine. With camera for blog purposes. So: middle class kids learning ballet, kids gardening instead of being in the classroom or feeding a starving family. That's a choice? It's like choosing between Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn and Mother Theresa.
But hang on a minute. What if the food charity is run by that woman from Kids Company? What if teaching the kids to grow vegetables means they will feed their families when they grow up (the kids not the vegetables)?
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for his life time.
(Not just men obviously. Thought I'd better say that)
What if a young ballerina/o grows up to be a star and host a Dance Aid performance which raises millions of pounds for poor kids all over the world?
It's tricky. I can't get my head round it so my mind wanders ...
Maybe we could use this system for other important votes. Like Brexit. Or the new President after the Queen dies. Boris Johnson, Nick Clegg or David Attenborough. And instead of queuing at polling booths at election time, we could all decamp to the local supermarket or corner shop and cast our vote with a purple disc. None of those party poopers asking who you voted for - they can see! No electronic voting machines, so no Russian hackers. Put a scale up the front and you wouldn't need all those polling companies. And there's only room for three choices, so no Monster Raving Loonies or idiots wearing clown costumes or funny hats. Or Farage. What's not to like?
I don't have time for the necessary research. I cast my vote .......
Good choice. But Asda have done it for years. You see it’s the downmarket supermarkets that do it. Waitrose wouldn’t demean themselves with purple discs.
ReplyDeleteNo discs either at Lidl or Aldi but they do have a food bank crate. And there’s a dilemma too. I put a certain sum in each week, but having read Jack Munro on heartsink foodbank boxes all with economy lines in them, I felt a great deal of sisterly sympathy. So now I put in four sensible items such as a tin of tuna or a tin of meat and one unnecessary but nice item such as chocolate biscuits, but I still feel bad as it my choice not the recipient. And I feel huge anger as in our wealthy country there should be no need for food banks anyway.