Costco – Better Living Through Literature

Maybe the most surprising thing about my middle age is the fact that I’m such a Costco fan now. No, corporations are not our friends, but as Jake Lunbderg writes in The Atlantic,

Costco is a marvel not just historically but also in this moment. In an age of broken institutions, insufferable politics, and billionaire businessmen auditioning to be Bond villains, most things feel like they’re getting worse. Costco seems to stay the same. The employees are generally satisfied. The customers are thrilled by the simple act of getting a good deal. All of it makes a unique space in contemporary American life, a space of cooperation, courtesy, and grown-ups mostly acting like grown-ups.

Of course, Costco is also very media-shy and last year The New Yorker asked “Can the golden age of Costco last?” but for now… I’ll take a business that isn’t blatantly trying to rip off its customers.

1. I’ll always read a long piece about Costco. “Can the Golden Age of Costco Last?” (We got our first rotisserie chicken from Costco this week! A whole new world!)

2. This history of the @ symbol is delightful:

The ancient Greeks were fond of a style of clay pot called an amphora. … as time went on, an amphora became a standard unit of measure.

“Merchants had to communicate the idea that ‘I’m going to sell you a certain number of amphoras of something or other at a particular price’ quite a lot,” [author Keith] Houston says. And eventually, people started drawing an “a” with a long tail wrapped around it and skipping the rest of the letters.

3. Good news everyone, I found the cure for anxiety:

4. And I found something that makes SO much sense:

Category: Costco

Another Costco Appreciation Piece

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