Everyday Discounts?

Ron Johnson, the recently named chief executive officer of J.C. Penney, has announced a marketing strategy that is being proclaimed as a stroke of genius in some quarters and an idiotic scheme by others.

The plan? Johnson says there will be no more sales gimmicks at Penneys. Nothing will be “on sale” in weekly advertisements; instead, everything will be a lower price all the time — as much as 40 percent below the cost before.

An everyday-low-prices strategy long ago made Walmart king of the general merchandisers. Whether J.C. Penney can make a go of it with a more limited range of inventory remains to be seen.

The biggest challenge facing Penneys is consumers who have grown accustomed to buying everything “on sale.” Analysts say 40 percent of what Americans bought in stores in the fourth quarter of 2011 had been discounted. Kohl’s, a prime competitor for Penney’s customers, had a huge fourth quarter yet didn’t show a profit. I shop at Kohl’s a lot because of multiple in-store discounts as well as mailed coupon savings.

But I wouldn’t pay the $45 originally marked on a shirt or the $25 price tag attached to a picture frame.

Which is exactly Johnson’s point. He says shoppers are tired of the phony sale tags that have been jacked up in the beginning to try to convince them they are getting a real bargain when it goes on sale.

Part of the campaign involves a new logo, repeated “fair and square” terminology, revamped stores that will have a town square and main street feel, and hiring Ellen DeGeneres as a spokeswoman. Obviously in a tough economy where competitive techno-savvy shoppers know where the best price is, Johnson’s strategy is a make-or-break proposition.

85 Is Not the New 65

I’ve written a couple of lengthy similar articles recently about caregiving challenges facing the elderly (here’s one: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/december/aseniormoment.html.) As we live longer thanks to medicine and technology, that life isn’t necessarily filled with quality health wise. For every codger on the tennis courts, there are five more wheezing in a nursing home.

In fact, only 5 percent of Americans older than 85 are fully functional. I come from hearty stock. Uncle Ralph on my dad’s side is 92 and living alone, in full mental and physical control. Uncle Joe on my mom’s side is similarly fit at 87.

My own mom is nearing 94. Five years ago she was peppy, able to operate a computer and drive. Now she spends most days lying in bed, unable to read or concentrate fully. A broken hip started a gradual decline from walker to wheelchair. Still, she gets quality care in a nursing home, both from staff and hospice workers.

I have a little more sympathy for the elderly now that middle age is advancing and I see retirement a little more than a decade down the road. This past year has brought bouts of arthritis, tendonitis and bursitis, bringing my mortality into sharper focus.
That means it’s all the more essential to eat right and exercise while I’m still in relatively good health.

Legalizing Licentiousness

I read with incredulity earlier this month that U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups of Salt Lake City had ruled that there is sufficient evidence to allow a polygamous family to pursue a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Utah’s bigamy law.

I’ve written about Kody Brown and his brood of wives before (http://johnwmkennedy.blogspot.com/search?q=Brown). But since then and thanks to the popularity of his TV reality program, Brown has gone from outlaw to celebrity to legal trailblazer.

In his ruling, Waddoups accused prosecutors of showboating their authority and harassing the Browns, thus violating their constitutional rights.

Yet the fact that Kody counts Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn as his “Sister Wives” is a threat to the foundation of the American family. Traditional marriage already is facing attacks from the rising tide of cohabitation and the increasing number of state legislatures authorizing same-sex marriage.

When the state claims to have no interest in how people copulate, having multiple legal sex partners opens the door to a lack of regulation on the age of the “wives.” It’s not too farfetched to see polyandrous promoters filing lawsuits defending their “right” to have sex with children.

Primary Colorless

I’m not so sure democracy is all it’s cracked up to be when it comes to picking presidential candidates. I think we had better choices back in the days when political bosses picked a contender in a smoke-filled back room.

Of the eight one-time contenders for the Republican nomination, nearly all seem incapable of stirring much enthusiasm. There is a reason six different candidates once held a lead in the six months before the Iowa caucuses. None of these hopefuls has galvanized support of voters because they are, by and largely, bland, uninventive, inarticulate and unable to offer better economic solutions than the current occupant of the White House.

Certainly, Herman Cain set the world on fire until media interviews showed he failed to grasp much about foreign policy. Woman after woman coming forward to complain about sexual harassment ended his campaign. Voters still won’t tolerate a man who repeatedly steps out on his wife.

Which is only one of the problems facing Newt Gingrich. While he is the most intellectual of the bunch, Gingrich also is the most volatile and may have the heaviest baggage. Divorcing two wives after he twice committed adultery is no way to capture a nomination in a party populated by social conservatives.

Ron Paul would be a great candidate — if this was 1812 instead of 2012. Rigid isolationism isn’t welcome in either party, especially the GOP. And isn’t 77 a bit old to be sworn in for a first term in office?

Michelle Bachmann’s day in the sun fizzled almost immediately after it dawned. Rick Perry’s gaffes made George W. Bush look intelligent.

Mitt Romney has failed, after five years of trying, to electrify any great swath of the GOP electorate. While he looks the part, his vast wealth leaves the impression that he is out of touch with the common voter.

The only candidate I can support is Rick Santorum, and I voted for him yesterday in the Missouri primary that he won. Despite his three-state sweep on Tuesday, I fear with little financial resources, he soon will fall by the wayside, much like Mike Huckabee did four years ago after some early success.

Even though most of Democrat Barack Obama’s supporters believe he has let them down, he is poised to win re-election. He has the money, the power of incumbency and the probability that the economy will gradually improve until November.

Romney, the same as John McCain four years ago, is the choice of Republican bigwigs and donors with big bucks. But the party is more moderate than GOP voters at large. Social conservatives will stay home in droves if the slick Romney is the Republican nominee. His Mormonism will keep millions of wary evangelicals away.

Welcome Colorblindness

My wife and I had a 36-hour bout with the flu last week during which we didn’t want to do anything but sit in the living room and watch television — the only activity we had energy for besides running to the bathroom.

There happened to be a Mannix marathon on Cloo, a network I never had watched. Mannix was one of a plethora of private detective shows on during my youth, a series I hadn’t seen in decades. The program lasted eight seasons on CBS and still was in the top 20 Nielsen ratings when it went off the air in 1975. After watching a few episodes I had to ask why.

The scripts contained nearly identical element in each show: a group of thugs would beat up the hero detective, often sending him to a doctor; there would an obligatory car chase on a largely deserted highway, even though it was supposed to be Los Angeles; there would be a shootout, with a frightful number of people biting the dust; the police would seem like idiots, oblivious to clues in front of their noses. Story lines frequently were convoluted and improbable, the dialogue hackneyed. Many outdoor scenes obviously were shot on the Desilu lot.

So why did so many people watch this series? Well, the jazzy theme song for one thing, written by Lalo Schifrin, the same composer of the catchy Mission: Impossible TV signature tune.

But I think it came down to one basic element: the likeability of the two main characters and their interplay. Joe Mannix (Mike Connors) had every confidence in his dutiful secretary Peggy Fair (Gail Fisher). Mannix was one of the first TV series to not treat a black character as subservient or superfluous. As portrayed by Fisher (who won an Emmy as outstanding support actress in a drama series in 1970), Peggy Fair was competent, compassionate and classy. Writers gave her good lines, even allowing her to help her boss solve cases once in a while. In the days before sexual harassment went amok, Joe and Peggy touched each other as friends, embracing in joy or relief over certain situations. For a white man and black women to show tender concern for each other in 1967 in this country was radical — and most welcome.

Mannix on CBS was one of three series on network TV in the late 1960s to show African Americans in positive career roles. Julia (NBC, 1968-71) starred Diahann Carroll as the title-role nurse. I Spy (NBC, 1965-68) began the trend, with Bill Cosby as the equally billed co-star with Robert Culp as a black and white American agent team.

These programs didn't pretend that black people didn't have problems or that they didn't sometimes have unhealthy attitudes. Yet by showing characters with intelligence and a range of emotions, these shows illustrated something new to TV audiences: black people are equally worthy of human dignity.

Salute to the Postal Service

I’ve seen several mean-spirited editorial cartoons in recent weeks depicting the ineptitude of the U.S. Postal Service, which continues to lose billions a year. There is much moaning about the penny increase in the price of postage stamp that took effect on Sunday. That will do little to whittle the postal deficit.

Granted, post office honchos have been slow to react to technological changes that threaten its very existence. Much the same way the Internet has devastated the magazine industry, many people — especially young people — see the Postal Service as irrelevant. They don’t write letters. They don’t pay bills by snail mail. Even invitations are sent online these days.

And certainly the Postal Service has responded with glacial speed in plans to cut costs. Thousands of small post offices should have been closed years ago. Saturday mail service can’t be considered sacrosanct when viability is being considered.

But much of the criticism directed toward the Postal Service is unwarranted. Sure, I mistakenly receive a neighbor’s letter once in a great while. And on rare occasions it has taken longer than a week for a paycheck sent to me from neighboring Illinois to reach me in Missouri.

Yet, the Postal Service is reliable nearly all the time. Even on those rare days it’s too dangerous to travel to work, usually a vehicle pulls up to my mailbox delivering printed material. I can count on one hand the number of times that a bill, letter or package destined for my address or a payment, card or box from my house has been lost. The big benefit of mailing a letter or a bill is the low cost. There is no better way to get an envelope anywhere in the country fairly fast for 45 cents. It’s a veritable bargain.

Of course the Postal Service really may become important if something drastic happens such as dropping delivery to three times a week. That is a proposal on the table. What keeps it in business now is the timely delivery of magazines, newspapers, local advertisements, catalogs and the dreaded junk mail. If the Post Office tumbles, other industries may teeter on the brink as well.

Death of a Former POW

Recently I read the obituary in my hometown newspaper of 84-year-old Ted R. Sprouse, who spent virtually the entire Korean War as an American prisoner of war. Sprouse had a fascinating story, which I told in a lengthy newspaper article for the Fairfield (Iowa) Ledger in 1988. He had kept the memories bottled up for 35 years. I knew Sprouse both in his role as public works superintendent as well as a fellow attendee of church.

Sprouse had been wounded twice in the previous two days before his capture. The second injury, from a grenade, came moments after Sprouse prayed for the first time in his life to God, promising to serve the Lord if he made it back home. All other nine men in his group were killed by the blast. Sprouse had harrowing tales from his hostage years of near starvation, marching in sub-zero temperatures, failed escape attempts, deaths of fellow soldiers, near-fatal illness and abuse at the hands of his captors.

Once back home, Sprouse faced multiple medical problems. He also had fits of rage and excessive drinking — before making good on that promise he had made to God years later.

Five years after the newspaper article, Sprouse contacted me about writing a book on his life to tell things he wanted to get off his chest. He agreed that he wanted the book to be truthful, and, after extensive interviewing and other researching, I wrote a rough draft manuscript. Sprouse didn’t care for the proposal because it mentioned some unsavory details. For instance, he wanted to leave out the part about a fellow soldier divulging details to enemy guards that led to his capture after escaping. He also didn’t want to mention that when he arrived back home after three years as a POW he found his wife holding a one-year-old baby.

I argued that the importance of including all his painful and gruesome memories, because they all contributed to the anger that Sprouse felt as he spent years trying to forget the promise he had made about serving God. However, we couldn’t work out a compromise, and I walked away from the project, having naively not drawing up a contract for my efforts.

The obituary explains that Sprouse found someone else to write his book, published in 2000. I also see that the obituary mentions that he and his first wife divorced. That’s the wife he didn’t want to mention in the manuscript I wrote.