Where I Stand: Forget the discount cards, lower grocery prices for all

Tuesday, June 3, 1997 | 11:32 a.m.

THERE COULD BE ONLY two reasons for me to take the easy way out and devote the majority of this column to a letter received from a longtime SUN reader.

First, I have been somewhat under the weather lately and a bit out of circulation. Even writing a column taxes what energy I have.

Second, a pet peeve of mine was addressed so eloquently by SUN reader Leo Tafolla that it bears front-page exposure.

Tafolla's letter concerns discount plans at local groceries. It follows:

"'It's the program,' a grocery checker said to me with resignation when it first started and we were discussing their discount cards. She was offering me a sign-up and explaining how much I would have saved on my purchase. I jested that I was homeless and so I couldn't qualify, but then seriously told her I look forward to the day when markets will get rid of such nonsense and give customers real values rather than phony stuff like this.

"I have lived in my present neighborhood for nearly 30 years, well before our nearest supermarket even had a store here, and have since spent the vast majority of my food dollars there. But, in recent months, I enter the store reluctantly, knowing I'm going to get let down when my checkout receipt shows how much I would have 'saved,' if only I had been enrolled in the company's discount program. All of the major chains now have them, I understand, except Albertson's, but even they are rumored to be coming on board in the near future.

"The 'program' of very likely raising prices, then discounting them to card holders, may eventually cause me to bolt to some other market in the future -- to whichever chain acknowledges its folly first or whenever I tire of paying extra because I decline to share any personal information with my food provider.

"Why on Earth would it even be needed? Are we somehow acceding to a 'Big Brother' society by caving in, that even our food provider needs to know who we are? Do they really need to know that I was one of those who bought a half flat of strawberries last Wednesday and at what address I consumed them?

"But bringing these 'savings' to my attention by printing them on my checkout receipt will more likely run me off sooner, rather than bringing me into their card-carrying fold. So, I wish they would at least just quit rubbing it in by showing me how much extra (above real market, I'm certain) I'm paying for wanting to maintain my privacy where I shop for food."

Tafolla concludes his letter with the sad realization that it will do nothing to cause the giant chain stores to make any changes.

He might even succumb to the lure of being a club member. I finally did. Now if I can only remember to bring my membership card when I do my shopping.

Columbia Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center takes some good shots in a recent Wall Street Journal article.

According to WSJ reporter Marc Gardner, a former exec at the hospital is prepared to tell all about the operations of Columbia-HCA Healthcare Corp. Charges include sacrificing patient care for the big bucks and refusing to admit homeless patients.

The giant hospital chain could be operating an unhealthy environment and the charges certainly are not frivolous, but if a recent personal experience with the local Columbia-Sunrise operation is any criteria, I would heartily endorse the personal attention and compassionate care nurses and staff give to their patients.

An official state march has been designated for Nevada by the state Legislature.

"Silver State Fanfare" was performed by a Northern Nevada high school at President Clinton's second inaugural parade, and now it has become the state marching song.

The march was composed by Gerald Willis, who teaches at Hug High School in Reno. Willis formerly taught at Western High in Las Vegas.

A biography of George Von Tobel by Carolyn Rose is interesting reading for friends and acquaintances.

Von Tobel, the son of one of Las Vegas' pioneer families, has led a fascinating life that could be described by the popular song, "I Did It My Way."

Is it a conspiracy of the milk producers of America or further proof that our grandparents were right when they insisted that milk was essential for good growth and strong bones?

Then came the period when nutritionists warned us against drinking milk.

Now the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many of the problems we face today could be aided by drinking milk.

As a result, celebrities of the sports and entertainment world are appearing in ads in magazines, newspapers and on television smiling through a milky mustache urging us to drink more milk.

Which proves that a falsehood today may be the truth tomorrow.