My wallet contains an expired Costco card which gets me through the door but not to the checkout line. When I had my own medical practice, I paid extra for a premium membership which qualified me for their credit card services. After leaving, reduced my membership to standard every two years. I needed bifocals and Costco's Optical Department was the best option for bypassing an Italian Mamzer who cornered the lens market, inflating prices and not really disclosing what he actually controlled. So it was one year on, one year off. The savings on the bifocals would more than offset the membership fee. And I took advantage of it. There were a lot of good buys at Costco, which must be run by college psych majors who know how to generate wants. This was a bifocals renewal year but the prescription change was small enough and my need to enjoy maximum visual acuity in retirement did not justify the expense. But I needed my eyeglass frames refitted so I went.
Not having an active card defined me as a window shopper. I'm not much for prestige items. Have enough TV's. Mattress OK. As much as I covet those high end gas ranges that the professional cooks have, I don't need one, especially when it means getting a plumber to run pipe from my gas furnace into the kitchen. But there are petty indulgences. Cookware, maybe an indulgent office chair, always clothing that I might buy out of artificial want more than need.
And I like specialty food. Cheeses with acceptable hechshers. Gravlax. I didn't see any herring this time but didn't do a thorough search. Frozen kosher tiramisu, I assume still in the freezer section which I did not explore. Their warehouse sized bags of kettle chips which I've banned from my house. Don't know what I would have gotten today with an active card. Better off without an active card.
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