Tuesday, July 29, 2014

7.29.14 Bee-otch of the Day: Walgreens


Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com.



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Name: Walgreens
Age: 113
Occupation: drug store chain
Last Seen: Deerfield, IL
Bee-otched For: being at the corner of Happy and FUCK AMERICA

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For the past few years, Walgreens has been using the old Credence Clearwater Revival classic "Down on the Corner" for their commercials which end with the slogan "At the Corner of Happy and Healthy".

Now, those ads might end up using Yello's "Oh Yeah" with the slogan of "An der Ecke glücklich und gesund".

The powers-that-be of America's largest drug store chain are now deciding whether or not they want to move their headquarters to Switzerland. The reason being is because of a tax loophole that would save Wag's from paying an extra $4 billion in taxes if they were to stay here in the US. Currently, the company is planning to take over a majority share of the Swiss company Alliance Boots, which operates the 165-year-old Boots Drugstore chain in Britain. Right now, Wag's owns a 45% stake of AB with the rest owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and an Italian billionaire, Stefano Pessina, who owns 8% of Walgreens and 18% of AB.

According to US tax laws, Wag's could save $4 BILLION if they moved to Switzerland, leaving their long time Chicagoland home for good. It might even cause other American companies to do the same, too, which would ruin this great nation.

It breaks my heart when people don't buy American, but that's life. Our country has been deunionized to the point where people are living on scraps weekly while big corporations like Walgreens have told people "fuck you" and move on.

I remember many years ago in my old hometown of Elk Rapids, MI, Walgreens wanted to build a store off of the main highway that runs through town, US-31. However, the town sprung into action and its citizens told Walgreens to fuck off. The town already has two locally-owned pharmacies that care about its citizens. I remember when the news came out about the proposed Walgreens and I talked to my great aunt and uncle in nearby Kewadin about it. They told me that they went to a Walgreens in Florida after my great uncle had surgery for his meds. However, the employees took their time. Why? Simple: THEY JUST DON'T CARE. They're underpaid, so who gives a flying fuck? Meanwhile, my great aunt is crying and yelling that her husband is about to puke his guts out in the car.

However, the service at both pharmacies in ER - River Pharmacy and The Corner Druggist - is way better, especially since they're both locally owned and in the case of The Corner Druggist, it was founded the same year as Walgreens, 1901. According to my great aunt, Wes Knecht, The Corner Druggist's owner lives above his store in an apartment. If you're out of your meds at 2 a.m. in the morning and it's an emergency, he'll rush downstairs, fill your order and open the door for you to get them. Most Walgreens would never do that in a million years.

But that's the sad reality of life: big chain - good, mom-n-pop - bad. Mom-n-pop charges too much while the big chain charges less. Because of that, people tend to think that they're saving money, but in the long run, they're killing jobs and the rest of the country. I'm very picky with where I spend my money. In my section of town, my grocery choices are Meijer, Family Fare, D&W, Walmart, Aldi and Horrock's. Of those choices, Horrock's is the only real local choice, although I rarely go there since they're more focused on food than other important grocery choices, i.e. toilet paper and shampoo. Personally, I go to Aldi the most. OK, OK, so I'm a hypocrite since they're German, but they treat their employees well and their food is good and cheap. But for the stuff that Aldi doesn't have, I usually go to Walgreen's, but with their backs being turned on America, I might end up doing more shopping at Family Fare since they're also local (even though their owners, Spartan Stores merged with Nash Finch several months ago to become SpartanNash).

So, there you go. Walgreens can go to hell for all I care. I'm sick and tired of people turning their backs on this great nation all in the name of money. I would like to see more local grocers and pharmacists here in my section of town, but it'll never happen as long as it's all big boxed in my neighborhood. If people knew what was going down at Wag's, they should stop going there, too.

But that's also another thing killing us all: IGNORANCE.

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