Publix

Man, is Publix in the news!  And it's all about Ron DeSantis, coronavirus vaccines, and a 60 Minutes spot.

"Full disclosure:" I have been a deeply devoted Publix customer for years.  I love Publix, and I particularly love the store nearest to me, which is on NE 6th Avenue between 128th and 129th Streets.  Sometimes, I bought specialty items from Marky's, sometimes, I shopped at Laurenzo's, and more recently, I shopped at a produce, etc, store called Fruteria La Hacienda on W Dixie at about 171st St.  But mostly, it was Publix.  And that Publix.

Eventually, I discovered what to me was a problem about Publix.  They sell some store-cooked chickens, which are either whole chickens, pieces of fried chicken, or chicken wings.  And they're delicious.  But each box has a time on it.  I was told by more than one person that if the cooked chicken isn't sold by the time stamped, it is thrown in the garbage.  It isn't given away to a willing customer, or given to homeless people or a food bank.  It becomes garbage.  Well, I can't have that.  My theory is that the only thing worse than tormenting an animal to get its meat is tormenting an animal to get its meat, then throwing the meat away.  I've bought boxes of chicken I didn't intend, or particularly want, to buy, so I could eat it instead of having it thrown away.  I wrote to Publix about this policy (it's a corporate policy, not a store policy).  I told them how horrible this was, and that the least they could do is gradually lower the price, as the garbage hour approaches, to make it more likely that someone would benefit from the torture and death of these animals, and get themselves some nutrition.  I got a call back from the manager of my favorite Publix, and he asked me to come by to talk to him.  He's a very nice guy.  He explained that if they lowered the price, people would just wait for the lower prices, and he further explained/complained that the idea was to sell the cooked food before bacteria grew on it, which might make someone sick, which would lead them to complain to/about Publix, and anyway, people are always complaining and scamming, bringing in foods they claim are no good, even after they've eaten the whole package of food.  They want their money back, and Publix gives it to them.  This was very unsatisfying for me, and it made me less sympathetic to everyone, including Publix, but it didn't stop me from shopping there as my primary source of groceries.

But here's what did.  I read an article on my homepage (msn, which often seems to me a bit right-leaning, or at least the people who answer the poll questions are) about how one of the Publix heirs personally gave most of the money for Donald Trump's January 6 party/massacre, and Publix Corporation gave Ron DeSantis $100K toward his re-election.  And seemingly thereafter, Publix was awarded a contract from the state of Florida to provide coronavirus vaccines.  So I wrote again to Publix, and I told them I wasn't shopping there any more.  They're using my money to support a candidate of whom I don't approve, and who I believe is damaging the citizens of Florida, including me.

Well, the heiress can do what she wants with her own money, but I do not approve of Publix backing one of the stupidest politicians I have ever encountered.  And he's not just generally stupid; he's been stupid in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic (I will assume he knows it's a pandemic).

What happened next was that 60 Minutes did an expose of this matter, and they linked Publix's donation to DeSantis to the state contract Publix got.  And 60 Minutes got a lot of flak for that expose.  They were said to have been wrong, careless, and biased.  DeSantis' defense (not given on 60 Minutes, because he reportedly expected to be treated unfairly if he agreed to appear there) was that it was the state of Florida Department of Emergency Management that decided to use Publix as a provider for vaccinations, and that the head of that department was Jared Moskowitz, who is said to be a Democrat.

So now, everyone except DeSantis, Moskowitz, and Publix has egg on their faces.  Except...  We're still left wondering why Publix would give $100K to gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis (why would a grocery store chain that has employees to pay and maybe stockholders to please give money to any political candidate?), and whether there's any connection between that donation and the contract Publix got.  Moskowitz says NO!  Coincidence, then?

Within two blocks of my favorite Publix there is a CVS and a Walgreens.  Some drug stores are open 24 hours a day (not those two).  No grocery stores are open 24 hours a day.  So why Publix?