To the editor:
Went to a grocery store this morning to pick up coffee cream and milk.
As usual, as most men can contest,
I would have picked up more items along the way,
but the price points I saw drew me away.
The prices of most items jumped out at me,
pierced my mind, memory and pocketbook too.
What was .99 cents a year ago is selling for $2.69 today,
and a box of cheese macaroni is a whopping $2.25+ a box.
Corporations blame the pandemic for all their woos,
scarcity of items caused by supply chain mishaps.
But I spoke to those who run this store and they blabbed,
telling me of a memo sent out long ago,
a memo telling them to create an illusionary scarcity,
leave cases of items in the back with shelves empty.
Prices escalated to the point where I will not go again,
to any other grocer that treats me like that,
putting the importance of massive profits upon my pain-filled back.
Corporations are not charities but need to price items properly.
Corporate North America are no saints that is true,
for at the turn of the century, they put addictive cocaine
into the cough syrups their customers needed, and worst of all,
the child's cough syrups had heavier doses too.
Remember those addictive cigarettes of old?
We were once told they do not damage our lungs,
now Governments chase these corporate thugs,
who care not for us, but "only the almighty buck".
Canadian or American Corporation, matters not,
building their share price and CEO payouts is all that counts.
What is good for a customer is highly costly,
while items that rot your teeth and bulk you up are less costly.
Only a corporation would think of charging customers for water in a bottle,
water that belongs to the community and all of us as well.
Alberta meat is high scale costed, while chicken and pork will have to do.
Don't even ask about the medicines we need to stay well?
Corporations reacted to the pandemic very well,
creating supply when it served their share profitability.
Create an illusionary scarcity they devised most brilliantly.
Jumping prices not seen before, and upward too.
Corporate thought you need to believe, is centered only on profitability, not you.
Governments cannot do anything about it folks,
for their all playing the same tune it seems.
Ontario, Canada and America too, are open for business.
And we sit by, complaining with dread in our minds,
of what to pay for accommodation, food, gas or our healthcare first.
This same situation happens all the time, but we don't remember.
Now the recession is on its way, perhaps that's why corporate thought prevails,
for once it hits us, corporations have their piles of money,
and we the unwashed worker dreams long forgotten.
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
