Hilltowns Senior News for Sunday, February 5, 2017
There is a word in Yiddish for complaining and generally giving someone a hard time when you are displeased. That word is “kvetch,” which is a letter combination that you may need to practice. Kvetch can be either the action itself, or the person doing the kvetching.
A really good Kvetch is the one who can return an item to the store, and come out with more than they took into exchange. I mention this because I am, myself, moderately adept at kvetching, which I consider to be an appropriate response to any situation in which I feel I have been shortchanged, or treated in a manner that makes no sense.
The first lesson in being a kvetch is: “If you have a question, ask it!” There is no good reason to put up with nonsense as long as the person with whom you disagree is not carrying a gun, in which case the proper response is “yes, of course” to whatever they say.
This morning was a case in point. I opened a new pail of kitty litter and found a free can of cat food. Yippee! There was also a coupon for “buy one, get one free,” but the coupon expired today. This irked me, so I looked up the phone number of the cat food company, and called it.
They had rather shot themselves in the foot this time, since I was happy with the free can until I saw the outdated coupon. Now I feel that I have been deprived of something to which I was entitled. In my humble opinion, this is not the world’s best marketing strategy. I called the media/press office, but had to leave a message on a machine.
The gentleman who answered the customer-service number was named “Larry.” Larry did not sound as though English was his first language, although his English was far superior to my ability to converse in anything else.
Larry was very polite, and assured me that the company would replace the coupon, and send me a few others to compensate for my trouble. He took my contact information, and made sure to ask my permission (twice) for the company to contact me for feedback.
To follow up on the issue, he asked me to provide the UPC and other numbers from the package of kitty litter. We are talking about a 35-pound pail here, not some little five-pound box. In the interests of fair play, I trundled all the way out to the garage, where I discovered that the expiration date on the kitty litter wasn’t until August 2018.
Why on earth would you put a coupon that expires Jan. 31, 2017, in a product that can be sold until 2018? I would think that this would annoy people more than it would make them want to buy more of that cat food, although the free can (also dated August 2018) did soften the blow.
Larry advised me that, in cases like this, the company would assume that the seller of the litter was at fault. I asked how you could blame someone who was playing by all the rules, and selling the litter within it’s “good” time period. (I would also like to know how kitty litter could possibly go “bad.”)
I asked what kind of marketing strategy was in play here. Did the company think that people only buy things after they run out, so everything gets used immediately? Not out here in the country, we don’t; we know Mother Nature and her minions a bit better than that.
Larry didn’t know what the company reasoning was, although he did inform me that most promotions have expiration dates. He offered to pass my questions along to his supervisor, who would route them to the appropriate department. I agreed, and will keep you posted.
Interestingly, they could have avoided the entire issue, since there is no federal requirement that kitty litter have an expiration date. As a matter of fact, the Food and Drug Administration has no requirements whatsoever regarding expiration dates for food or cosmetic products.
The FDA website states: “With the exception of infant formula, the laws that the Food and Drug Administration administers do not preclude the sale of food that is past the expiration date indicated on the label. FDA does not require food firms to place “expired by,” “use by,” or “best before” dates on food products. This information is entirely at the discretion of the manufacturer.” Who knew?
This does not in any was absolve the manufacturer from liability if the product causes a problem, or makes someone sick. “A product that is dangerous to consumers would be subject to potential action by FDA to remove it from commerce regardless of any date printed on a label,” the website says.
All this does make me wonder if one could avoid paying full price for most things simply by kvetching? It takes no more time than coupon clipping, and frequently yields better results. Maybe I should start a “Rent a Kvetch” service? I already have free coupons for fruit juice bars and hand lotion.
Coming up
February is Barley Month, Dog Training Education Month, International Expect Success Month, and Library Lovers Month. The week of the 5th to the 11th is Children's Authors & Illustrators Week,
Dump Your Significant Jerk Week (always the week before Valentine’s Day), Freelance Writers Appreciation Week, and National School Counseling Week. The 5th is Popcorn Day, Shower With A Friend Day, and Super Bowl 51. Lame Duck Day and Girl Scout Cookie Day are the 6th. The 7th is Ballet Day, Bean Day, International Day of Black Women in The Arts, and Laura Ingalls Wilder Day.
Opera Day is the 8th, and National Stop Bullying Day and National Bagel Day are on the 9th. All The News That's Fit To Print Day is the 10th, and the 11th is Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day, Satisfied Staying Single Day, and Make A Friend's Day.
The senior lunch bunch would like to extend our sincere thanks to the town of Knox for its generous contribution to our programming, to the town of Berne for providing the senior center and its upkeep, and to the BKW school for the wonderful and efficient youth volunteers who give us so much help. The lunch contributions we receive go directly to the food vendor, so the support from all these friends makes the entire program possible. Thank you all.
The senior shopping bus will make its next trips to Walmart and Whole Foods on Feb. 8 and 22, 2017. Call CDTA at 437-5161 two days in advance to arrange for pickup.
The Hilltown Seniors will meet again on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 10:30 a.m. at the Berne Senior Center.
February birthdays will be celebrated at lunch on Tuesday, Feb. 7, and there will be a Valentine's Day party on Tuesday, Feb. 14. The menu for Valentine’s Day is shrimp scampi, so guys, you could take your sweetie out for an elegant Valentine’s meal and not have to tip the waiter.
Menu
Come in out of the cold and have a hot lunch with friends and neighbors; the menu for next week’s lunches is:
— Monday, Feb. 6, lasagna roll-up, marinara sauce, romaine lettuce with tomatoes and carrots, Italian dressing, Italian wheat bread, pears, and milk;
— Tuesday, Feb. 7, meatloaf with tomato gravy, seasoned oven roasted potatoes, cauliflower, wheat bread, birthday cake, and milk; and
— Friday, Feb. 10, mac and cheese, stewed tomatoes, wheat bread, baked apples, and milk.
Doors open at 11 a.m., and lunch is served promptly at noon. We also have transportation to and from lunch. Just tell Linda Hodges when you call with your reservation.
Does your aardvark club, reminiscences group, or old-time radio buffs club need an easy place to meet? Why not meet at the senior center? Come have lunch, and then get together with your friends. There’s plenty of space, and the center is open for all of us. We already have games, dominoes, and cards after lunch on Mondays and Tuesdays, so join us.
Please call Linda Hodges 24 hours in advance to 872-0940 to reserve lunch, or email her at: , or sign up when you come in. Tell us how many are coming, your name, and your telephone number. If you’d just like to come and help out, call Linda, send an email to , and put “volunteer” in the subject line.
Lunches are provided by Helderberg Senior Services, the Albany County Department of Aging, and Senior Services of Albany. The town of Berne Community and Senior Services Center is located at 1360 Helderberg Trail (Route 443) in Berne.