Date: Fri 03-Apr-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

edink-Drug-Center-tobacco

Full Text:

Ed Ink: Ethics In The Marketplace

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our

fellow-men; and along those fibers as sympathetic threads, our actions run as

causes, and they come back to us as effects.

--Herman Melville

We do a lot of things in this life to make a buck. In trying to make ends

meet, sometimes we find ourselves doing things we would prefer not to do. How

many times have each of us found ourselves compromising our own happiness,

perhaps our dreams, for the sake of the financial well being of our family?

Sometimes, when the money is good, we even compromise our conscience, thinking

"why stand on principle, especially when no one else is?" We may not always

feel great about what we do, but, hey, it's a living.

This week, however, there is a story on our Business page about Don and Diane

Bates at the Newtown Drug Center that has reminded us that there are times

when principles do count for something.

Over the years, the Bates have derived much satisfaction from knowing they are

engaged in a business devoted to the health and well being of their customers.

This ideal of helping and caring for others was compromised countless times

every day, however, when they rang up a pack of cigarettes or cigars for a

customer -- products that are notorious for their debilitating effects on

one's health and quality of life. The contradiction gnawed at Don and Diane

until this week, when they decided to stop selling tobacco products.

Their decision was not a good business decision. There is steady money to be

made on the tobacco habit of smokers, and quite often other products, such as

Lotto tickets and newspapers, are sold to those who stop in for a pack of

smokes. The Bates expect to lose money because of this decision, and at a time

when Newtown is about to up the competitive ante for drug stores with the

impending opening of a second large chain drug store in the center of town,

this loss will come at a critical time for the Bates' small independent

operation.

We can talk about bringing good old-fashioned ethics back to the marketplace

all we want, but until we start supporting that ideal with our money and loyal

patronage, acts of conscience like that of the Bates will be for naught. We

intend to give the Drug Center as much of our business as possible, and we

urge all Newtowners to do the same.