I Am Not a Transaction

Tincture May 14, 2019
Kim Bellard

I filled a prescription today at the drugstore; my receipt — for that one item, paid in cash — was five feet long. I know; I measured it. You can probably guess what chain that drugstore was part of. This issue has been covered extensively before, such as Rachel Sugar’s Vox investigation last fall.

Now, I know that, in this case, there are digital options, and that the company claims they cut the length of their receipts by up to 25% years ago, but, honestly, if this was the only issue, I’d just keep throwing them away (after letting my wife peruse the coupons, of course). The trouble is, I also know from experience that I’m going to get a 4–6 page explanation of...