No Award for PLCB “Effort”

My siblings and I grew up in very difficult circumstances. And by that I mean we grew up without video games.

A well-intentioned family friend offered to buy us a Nintendo one year and my mom declined, suggesting we would instead prefer the board game Life. To this day, I am embarrassed by my inability to play simple video games. Meanwhile, no one is impressed that I filled my plastic station wagon full of armless pink and blue tax write-offs.

Pennsylvania consumers, and anyone that has stepped foot in a government-run liquor store: We have been given a 1980s board game, while the rest of the country plays with an Xbox.

Just this week, the PLCB trumpeted new extended hours for a small fraction of their stores in an “effort to meet consumer demand.”

This would be a no-brainer for any business owner.  Failing to meet consumer demand means less revenue, less to reinvest, less for payroll. The PLCB has no such incentive. In fact, they only start acting like a business, and trying to please customers when threatened with privatization.

And while we’re talking about the PLCB’s “efforts to meet consumer demands,” it’s worth revisiting some of the others:

Extended hours at one of every six state stores is not giving consumers what they want.

As it stands, we’re still playing our outdated board games, while the rest of the country laughs.