Chip-Reader

Probably a Wegmans chip-reader.

“I have wonderful news,” I said to my doggy daycare friends.
“Danny finally got chip-readers.”

Danny Wegman.

“Danny” is Danny Wegman, current head-honcho of Wegmans supermarkets, which dominates Rochester’s grocery-biz, and is now expanding into the east-coast megalopolis.
“He finally sold that Ferrari and joined the 21st century,” I said to my checkout clerk at the Canandaigua (“cannon-DAY-gwuh”) Wegmans.
She got it. Danny is a car-guy; he street-raced a 454 Chevelle growing up.
He’s five years younger than me, which makes him a Big-Block dude.
Danny lives in a grand estate on Canandaigua Lake just south of Canandaigua.


Probably Danny’s Ferrari. (iPhone photo by BobbaLew.)

If a red Ferrari is parked in the Canandaigua Wegmans parking-lot, it’s probably Danny.
Wegmans is a family business, privately owned.
Danny inherited from his father, who inherited from John and Walter Wegman who founded Rochester Fruit and Vegetable Company in 1916.
My doggy daycare friends are **** and **** ******** of ******** ***** Pet-Grooming in Canandaigua.
Both are ex of the Mighty Mezz, the Canandaigua Daily Messenger newspaper. where I worked after my stroke.
**** was a reporter/editor in News; **** was an ad executive.
Both eventually left the Mighty Mezz, **** first after they gave her a raw deal; then ****.
For whatever reason **** did not get along that well with the paper’s Executive-Editor, whereas I did.
I sometimes think the Executive-Editor liked me because -a) I wasn’t costing him much, yet -b) I was extremely enthusiastic. It was the best job I ever had; compared to driving bus it was fantastic.
My pay was a pittance; usually the case with stroke-survivors.  But compared to Transit it was fun.
My job-title was “typist,” but I never typed anything. What I did was develop computer-tricks that saved time — plus make the newspaper more accurate.
I also generated reams of page-blowing copy. Despite my stroke I got so I could OCR scan (“Optical-Character-Recognition” on a computer).
I always say the reason I recovered so well from a stroke is because of that newspaper.
Wegmans has been dominant as long as I’ve been in Rochester — almost 60 years.
When I came there were Star Markets, but they tanked.
Only one competitor remains, “Tops Friendly Markets,” from near Buffalo. But I don’t perceive them as “friendly.”
There are other supermarkets, but they’re not part of gigantic chains like Wegmans or Tops.
I actually patronize three supermarkets, Tops and Wegmans in Canandaigua, plus a local supermarket in nearby Honeoye Falls (“hone-eee-OYE;” as in “boy”).
Wegmans seems cheapest, although they have the reputation of being expensive.
They use “consistent-low-pricing,” where the others use special sales on things I don’t often buy. (I don’t need a year’s supply of dishwasher detergent!)
The store in Honeoye Falls seems far more expensive — Wegmans or Tops haven’t invaded yet.
I shop those three supermarkets because I know where things are — or were.
But mainly Wegmans. Their employees seem friendlier = helpful when I ask where something is.
They’re not likely to excoriate me for interrupting their day-long donut break. I had that happen at WalMart* once.
Wegmans seems to be a happy ship; they treat their employees as valuable.
I think that’s mainly Danny — he’s not Simon Legree.
Yet for the past couple months no chip-reader at Mighty Weggers.
I thought they were required as of the first of the year. Before chip-readers the card-issuing bank ate fraud; but would not continue to do so unless the store used a chip-reader.
I.e. Still a stripe-reader, the store swallows the fraud, no longer the bank.
Scuttlebutt had that chip-readers take too long: BEEP! “You can now remove your card.” —At which point the clerk tells you to pull out your card = add 30 seconds to the transaction.
I hardly ever purchase groceries with cash. I use my credit-card, then pay in full. —That way my grocery expenses float up to a month. (Plus the banks pay points for me to use my card.)
“Danny, ya gotta quit tearing up the lake with yer gigantic Cigarette speedboat. The one with four unmuffled Big-Block Chevys.”

A Cigarette speedboat.

“He finally sold that Ferrari,” I said to the checkout-girl.
She knew about Danny’s Ferrari.




• I had a stroke October 26th, 1993, from which I pretty much recovered. Just tiny detriments; I can pass for never having had a stroke.
• For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for Regional Transit Service (RTS) in Rochester, NY, a public employer, the transit-bus operator in Rochester and environs. My stroke ended that. I retired on medical-disability.