If having Store cards doesn't seem like a big deal to you read this.

[csziggy]

32. No, but Mr Drucker gossiped with everybody in town

In a small town or a tight knit neighborhood, no one had secrets. I grew up in a small town. Everybody knew who was expecting, which teenage girls went on "vacation" for most of a school year and why.

They knew which families had financial problems because the clothing store knew they weren't buying new clothes and the grocery store knew they were buying cheaper meat. There were no secrets then, but we didn't worry as much because it was the members of our communities who knew them.

Now the "secrets" are being learned by big corporations and traded with other big corporations. That is a whole lot different.