Costco, DEI, and Frozen Pizza
A strange convergence of events led to last night’s dinner, and I’ve just gotta share about it.
Months ago, the Washington Post decided against endorsing a candidate in our Presidential Election, a move that many saw as a cowardly move by the Post’s gazillionaire owner Jeff Bezos being more interested in preemptorily sucking up to a potential President Trump, than in showing a bit of journalistic integrity in picking sides between a well qualified candidate and an existential threat to our very Democracy. More than 250,000 Post subscribers canceled their subscriptions in less than a week, and more followed (myself, a 35+ year Post subscriber, included).
Well, Trump did win the election, and he quickly made government Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs a target of his hate, laying evidence-less blame on DEI programs for just about everything, including tragic airplane crashes.
In a shameful display, many federal agencies and corporations were quick to obey, and quickly fell into goose-step behind the President’s hate. And against that background, those with the courage to resist are noteworthy. One such organization was the giant shopping club Costco, whose board of directors and shareholders overwhelmingly beat back any notion of undoing their DEI efforts.
It’s been awhile since we were Costco members. When we have a full house of kids and a chest freezer in the basement, family trips to Costco to buy bulk sized portions of family favorites was a no brainer. But those days are long passed, and as an empty nested household of two, we let our Costco membership lapse without much notice. But recently my wife had again become Costco-curious, mostly on the endorsement of friends and family who use their memberships well, and also the benefits of larger non-grocery offerings such as appliances or furniture.
My turn away from the Washington Post has started new habits in news gathering, turning to AP, Apple News, Google News, and other starting points. And it has also helped balance my desire to both stay informed, while also protecting my mental health by trying not to wallow too deeply in our current national nightmare.
Days ago Apple News served me up an article that caused no stress about the fate of our nation, and caught my attention. From a publication called Chowhound, the article was about 15 Frozen Pepperoni Pizzas, Ranked Worst To Best. I read with mild interest. Pepperoni IS the best pizza. Why do you think the pizza emoji is a slice of pepperoni? Think about it! 🍕
Of the 15 rated pizzas, I was only familiar with three of them; #9 Screamin’ Sicilian, #8 Tombstone, and the #2 ranked frozen pizza DiGiorno. But the #1 ranked frozen pepperoni pizza was one I was not familiar with from Motor City Pizza Co. I had no notion at this point, that I’d be meeting this top ranked frozen pepperoni pizza sooner than I could have imagined. Because just two days after the pizza article was published, my wife and I returned to Costco and reupped our long dormant membership.
We didn’t go there for the pizza. We went there for some savings, and maybe there will be other sorts of purchases in our future, we’ll see. And we went there for the DEI, because businesses that do the right thing in the face of hate are too rare and deserve our support. But when I spotted a Motor City Pizza box in another shopper’s cart, the recently read article returned with a rush, and a clarity that told me that it had earned some serious praise. So we bought a two pack.
I made one that night, and guess what? It was LEGIT! 🍕