But It's Free!

A trip to the mall on President's Day with my significant other was the usual exercise of fun coupled with routine annoyances. The shopping part was fun; we haven't done a good mall run in a while, and we actually got a great many things we needed around the house. The one thing we noticed immediately however, and yesterday wasn't the first time, was that every time we were being rung up by a salesperson we were forced into the following exchange:

Salesperson: Do you have a [INSERT STORE NAME HERE] card?
Us: No...
Salesperson (now in earnest): Would you like to sign up for one?
Us (wearily): No, but thank you.
Salesperson (more earnest): But it's free!
Us (more wearily): No, that's okay.
Salesperson (dubious): Okay...

We experienced varied versions of this same exchange about five times. It didn't matter whether we were buying sportswear or videogames, the riff was the same annoying beat. After a couple hours of this, coupled with dodging poorly-steered strollers, lackluster food-court Chinese eats, and looking at endless racks of what seemed to be identical pairs of jeans, I began to feel as if I was being flogged with a cat-o-nine-tails.

We spoke about getting buttons made up to wear: NO STORE CARDS THANKS. YES, I KNOW ITS FREE, DON’T CARE. I find the whole "free" thing dubious. Years ago discount cards were a good way to ensure customer loyalty—shop with us, get a discount. Winners all around.
No, now these companies have gotten greedy. I actually signed up for one card yesterday, and I was asked for my name, phone number, address. Guess were that info is going kids? They'll sell it off to be placed on a marketing list, and we know the wonderful security employed by such companies in guarding our info from identity theft, which is, well, pretty much no security at all. One wonders if that immediate $5 savings on a videogame and future 10% discount on used games is worth the ongoing hilarity of having your identity ripped off, or of simply being spammed to death.

I doubt it.