WALGREENS’ PAY-TO-PEE A
CRAPPY WAY TO DO BUSINESS
I’m
now officially boycotting Walgreens. 
I’ve
never suffered fools gladly and have near-zero tolerance for blatant
stupidity. You’d think, being in
politics with the likes of former Assemblyman Mark Surewould, that I’d be used
to it by now. But I’m not. Here’s the deal…
I
had to make a marketing presentation in San Diego last week. The day before was my first-born’s 14th
birthday and Kristen wanted to go to this place in downtown Los Angeles called
“The Last Bookstore,” which is supposed to be just the coolest used bookstore
ever (it is). So I took her along.
We
laid up in West Hollywood (because I can’t afford Beverly Hills!), walked up to
Sunset Blvd., had a great birthday dinner at Nonna’s of Italy - after taking
the requisite photo in front of the Rainbow Bar & Grill (“where the
possessed go to mingle” for you Sam Kinnison fans) - and then drove over to the
bookstore after (in any normal city) rush hour was over.
We
found the bookstore easily enough, only to find it didn’t have a restroom. And, well, girls being girls, one was
required (they never seem to “go” before we go). However, the helpful clerk at the front desk
advised that the Walgreens a block up the street did.
So
off we went to take care of business.
Only…
The
restroom was a pay toilet. Not the kind
of pay toilet of old where you had to scramble around looking for dimes or
quarters. No, to gain access here, the
store manager informed us, we had to buy something.
But
I didn’t need anything. Nor did I want anything. My daughter just had to heed nature’s call.
Tough
luck, advised the manager. If you don’t
show me a receipt showing you bought something, I’m not unlocking the door.
As
there was now steam coming out of my ears, a bottle of water for a buck seemed
an appropriate purchase. But here’s the
thing…
I
understand that Walgreens is a drug store and not a public restroom. And I understand they don’t want downtown
homeless bums making themselves at home in their johns rather than taking care
of business in the alley like they usually do.
However…
I’ve
already bought a ton of stuff from Walgreens, especially after starting a
separate boycott of CVS a few months back in response to their aggressive
support for ObamaCare. And in all of my
other visits and all of my other purchases at Walgreens – for which I had
plenty of receipts at home - I’ve never once used any of their bathrooms.
So
if pay-to-pee is the name of the game, they owe ME.
That
said, it’s their store and they can set whatever restroom policy they
choose. On the other hand – and this is
the great thing about the free market (something I wish our public schools were
subject to) – I can protest such a stupid, anti-customer policy by shopping
elsewhere.
Yep,
they got me.
I
had no choice but to spend that $1 on a bottle of water I didn’t want. But that’s the last $1 Walgreens will get
from me. Because of their penny-wise-pound-foolish
policy, Walgreens will now lose the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars I
would have otherwise spent with them in the months and years to come.
For
want of a nail…
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