Libraries

[bunn]

 Caught a section on the radio earlier today about the library closure protests. They were saying: use them or lose them. 

This is a call to action that works well for, say, local pubs or milkmen.  I don't think it should necessarily apply to libraries though. I live in a rural area, and am currently,  relatively time-poor and shelf-rich.  It makes sense for me to buy books rather than driving to a library during opening hours.   I am not a customer that particularly needs a library at present: in fact, using one would be something of a pain. 

However, I have certainly been shelf-poor and time-rich (or more conveniently located) in the past, and very likely will be again in future.  The fact that I am not using the library much *now* should not be interpreted as a vote to close the place!  

 I'm not using the local primary school, police station, hospital or prison either, but nobody thinks that means I never will.   Surely public services should be used primarily by those that need them, not by those that merely think that they should remain open...?

Comments

I never succumb to impulse buying

[bunn.livejournal.com]

That would put you very much in the minority. A supermarket is a very scientifically constructed system for encouraging impulse buying in human beings, and they make money because most people can be manipulated into buying more, when things are set up to look like a bargain.

I am not sure it is only 'Good Cause' to think about whether one might spend differently in a different type of shop: I've found that if I am shopping to feed 6 hungry people for a week, it will be a lot cheaper if I can get as much of it as possible from the butcher and greengrocer and stick to dishwasher tablets and looroll from the supermarket...

(Mind you, if it were more expensive I'd pay it anyway if I could, cos Tesco is such a grim place. No daylight and the staff look so *miserable*)

Horses for Courses

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't think I'm a typical consumer in many ways (for a start, my exposure to advertising is minimal) and I wouldn't want to generalise from my case. We have a dingy and depressing mid-size supermarket even closer to us than Tesco, and seldom shop there.

Personally I don't mind the lack of daylight, and the staff seem fine and are always helpful; possibly it helps that our Tesco is one of the biggest in the country, with its own deli, cheese counter, butcher, baker, and fishmonger with appropriately trained staff as well as all the prepackaged stuff. But whatever is best for your circumstances!

my exposure to advertising is minimal

[bunn.livejournal.com]

If you shop in a supermarket and use the internet and Google, your exposure to marketing is considerable. You may not see much television advertising - but marketing is an awful lot more than that!

You go to food shows! You may not think of that as 'advertising', but essentially a food show is one big mass of adverts which has the unusual advantage of being able to hit the punter using his tastebuds and nose as well as all the usual channels.

Re: my exposure to advertising is minimal

[(Anonymous)]

Point well made and well taken -- it's probably working subconsciously on me all the time, in that sneaky way it has. On the conscious level it all washes over me!

Re: my exposure to advertising is minimal

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

Point well made and well taken -- it's probably working subconsciously on me all the time, in that sneaky way it has. On the conscious level it all washes over me!

Re: I never succumb to impulse buying

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

"That would put you very much in the minority." But then Kargicq is very much in the minority in so many ways! :-)
Neuromancer
(*I* freely admit to impulse-buying; it makes shopping more enjoyable for me!)