Retail, under the guardianship of America’s lackluster jackass accounting clerks masquerading as business executives, has devolved from customer-focused selling of
merchandise to a meddlesome focus on the collection of personal data via the issuance of affinity cards.

Amid the greatest offenders are bookstores, (purchasing bomb building tomes is protected privacy) the self-proclaimed defenders of the First Amendment. Attempting to purchase a bible to reference Revelations, one is hounded to register for the card: “… no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

’Twas the week before Christmas that every cash-clutching patron of Barnes & Noble was forced to produce the company’s discount card or endure a sales pitch. After a 20-minute line wait, The Edge declared: “Don’t have the card, don’t want one, just check me out.”

Said the clerk, “My manager requires me to inform everyone of the benefits of …”

At that point she was talking to the next guy in line. The Edge confirmed that Internet merchants would provide the same items without the hassle. Moreover, state, county and city sales taxes were not added to gift purchases that arrived two days later courtesy of FedEx.

Retail apparel stores have become the devil’s own playground. To MBA ueber-bosses, sorting merchandise by manufacturer’s brand makes perfect sense. The apparent supposition: most shoppers are more likely to buy the wrong size in order to get the desired brand than would insist on something that fits. Were such not the case, merchandise would be sorted by size as it is on most Websites.

Those whiz kids, facing plummeting same store sales, seem more interested in having clerks selling store credit cards than in allowing an anonymous merchandise purchase.

Irksome indeed is the reality that to purchase soda pop or a bottle of aspirin, most Americans are required to give more information to a part-time college kid clerk than is required to gain access to the voting booth. Contrast this trampling of privacy rights with the “end of the Constitutional world” hysterics resulting from checking a criminal suspect’s proof of legal entry to the country.

This whole affinity card thing arrived in Springfield during the 1980s. At the time, the price for a car wash would be lower if one could document, with a card, a bank account at the same institution at which the car wash had its account. The Edge sought and found another place to lath the Jeep.

At the recent grand opening of a CVS, minions waited patiently in cash register queues while each was subjected to a Soviet-era inspired credential inspection. The Edge’s status as a card carrier was negative. Thus, informed the clerk, “no discount,” for this lossleader purchase.

Surely by now the basket of items abandoned in favor of finding a store less particular about the pre-registration of those purchasing sodas has been restocked to the shelves.

Local employee-owned Price Cutter will honor both advertised specials and everyday prices to anybody kind enough to fill a basket in one of its stores. Rival Dillon’s requires The Mark of the Beast –a Dillon’s card– to avoid paying an extra ransom for a package of hamburger meat.

Farewell to CVS, Macy’s, Borders, Dillon’s, et. al. The Edge will carry a deck of wallet cards no longer! Here’s praying that all such retailers quickly discover their end of times: “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are.”

I recently read the article on gangs and the authorities focusing on prevention [Aug. 11 issue]. I found it to be an interesting read, and very well put for the most part. Lt. David Millsap gave a digestible amount of information that was helpful and definitely informative.

However the comments by Dr. Lorene Stone gave me, and I’m sure quite a few other people in the community, discomfort. I would defiantly say the parents of kids who wear similar attire as described by Dr. Stone as indicators of gang association would not approve of that stereotype being placed on their youth. Baggy pants, tattoos and piercings are worn by honor roll students, athletes and some of the most respectable people in our community. Hip hop and rap crosses all demographics cultural, age and geographic regions to say the least.

To this day still if a group of farm boys wearing form fitting wranglers commit an assault on another it’s just boys misbehaving. The city of Willard and Willard High School not too long ago had a problem with a group of students called the Carhartt gang. I will say that Willard dealt with it swiftly, but other communities around the Ozarks have faced similar groups who do not fit the so called description.

Although the article states that most gang members in Springfield are white, based on the indicators described, that’s what law enforcement uses for profile stops, and we know most profile stops are of African Americans (DWB).

Springfield isn’t known as a gang community, and most people are not aware of the gang activity that exists. Maybe kudos to law enforcement and multiple community groups is in order. In fact, the Springfield Missouri 2008 Citizen Survey reports, out of 830 throughout the community surveyed, “more than three-fourths (78%) of those surveyed who had an opinion gave positive ratings”.

I found Dr. Stone's comments counter productive to the article and to the City of Springfield’s Vision 20/20 for our community. I think Lt.David Millsap said it best “the outward signs are harder see than they use to be.”

Perhaps the word gang in this instance is used too loosely and maybe we should focus on the acts of individuals and less on appearance. Oh and by the way, Springfield’s City Councilman Nick Ibarra has a tattoo and wears baggy pants.

Coming from a person who grew up in the heart of Los Angeles and Southern California, I have lived in cities with a population of a million plus and towns with as few as 55 people. I can tell you gang members come in every race, shape, and gender.

I would say, people need to get to know your neighbors and the people in your community, and if you suspect your son, daughter or others in your area as being involved in a gang, you are probably right, get help from other family members or there is a list of community groups throughout the city including the Springfield Police Department that could help.

You can also contact The Springfield Mayor's Commission on Human Rights and Community Relations (417)864-1038 or at 840 N. Boonville Ave. Springfield, MO 65801