Word: supermarket
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...have learned to take shoddy service in stride," she says wearily. Even when they speak up and get their money back, consumers often come away with a feeling of being abused. Earlier this month, when a Los Angeles homemaker took back a foul-smelling piece of fish to a supermarket on the city's west side, she got a refund only after answering brusque questions and signing papers. At no time did anybody apologize or give the slightest sign that they regretted spoiling her dinner...
Consumer grief is even becoming part of the pop culture. Comedian Jay Leno says that when he chided a supermarket clerk for failing to say thank you, she snapped, "It's printed on your receipt!" The film Back to the Future cracked up its audiences with a scene in which Michael J. Fox's character, who has traveled back in time, walks past a 1950s-era filling station and is flabbergasted to see four cheery attendants in neatly pressed coveralls. Like a pit crew at the Indianapolis 500, they dash up to a car and proceed to fill...
...personal attention comes just when U.S. consumers are enjoying a cornucopia of novel products and services. Thus the deterioration of basic, personal service is taking the fun out of the new offerings. Shoppers can now find ten kinds of mustard and a dozen varieties of vinegar in a supermarket, but where is a clerk who can give a guiding word about these products? Airlines offer a bonanza of cheap fares, but many travel agents no longer want to be bothered handling such unprofitable business. That leaves consumers on their own, so they have to grab brochures and do their homework...
...University of Leicester in England, realized it might be the basis for an important new tool in criminal investigations. Using restriction enzymes as "scissors," he cut the DNA taken from several people into segments and arranged them into patterns that somewhat resemble the bar codes found on supermarket products. The DNA from each individual, he found, formed a unique pattern -- in effect a DNA fingerprint...
...YEAR Whether they thought of it as a rodent or more lovingly as a cuddly bunny, Americans have generally had little taste for rabbit meat. No longer. Lean and less fattening than chicken, rabbit lends itself to a wide variety of preparations, hence its now standard appearance in many supermarket freezer cases and on menus of only moderately fashionable restaurants. Now if only there were a way to stuff the ears...