Deception plagues modern life
Last month, and with coupons in hand, Iwas off to Publix formy weekly shopping. Iwas excited about getting a newproduct thatwas on sale, plus I had a $1-off the sale price coupon sweetened the deal.
Off to the juices and there itwas— Farmers Pick— anewproduct froma familiar American company.
The front label read100 percent juice. Just belowthat, in big letters, was theword “blackberry.” Wow. One-hundred percent blackberry juice, and noGMOs. Great. Haven’t had pure blackberry juice sincemy teen days inKentucky whenmy brother and I picked fresh, wild blackberries— 18 gallons one summer.
The first sip of the juicewas tasty, but a tad grapy. Then, I read the ingredients on the back label. There itwas: the first ingredient and blackberry the third of What a disappointment.
I stewed over this for a day or so, then contacted the company via email. I let them know(using nicewords) that the product tasted good, but itwasn’t100 percent blackberry juice and that the company knowingly had deceivedme. Yes, I should have read the ingredients like I usually do, but the label’s claim of100 percent blackberry juice seemed enough at the time.
Later, I received an apology letter in the mail formy experience, along with coupons for future products. But no apology for the deception.
I began to ponder theword which is dishonesty, and the two are like hand and glove. It seems thatwe are being deceived all of the time. Politicians do it to get the vote, but after that, they are not concerned, for the most part, about the voter. I could cite numerous specifics where elected leaders in bothTallahassee andD.C. have deceived voters, past and present.
My wife just recently learned that awellknowntoilet paper brand is nearly an inch less wide, but packaged and priced the same as the “original” wider role. She spoke with a company representative andwas told they are improving the product. Can you believe that absurdity? Duringmy 35 years of tenure in academia, Iwas confronted with all sorts of deception fromstudents trying to avoid a test or whatever.
Iwonder— are folks today more dishonest than in the past? Perhaps ifwewere more honest ourworldwould be a better place to live, including more respect to our elected officials and neighbors.