The Iron Curtain To The Tea Bags.

As I staggered though my local shopping centre the other day I paid my weekly visit to Coles supermarket. According to their corporate tagline we the punters should 'Love' them as opposed to those 'Fresh Food' people at Woolworths who presumably we only 'Like'. Anyway, as I entered the store I passed through one of those automatic gate/barrier things that both these grocery giants like to employ. Which made me ask the question 'Why the flamin' heck do they have those things?!!' I mean it seems they're actually trying to prevent their valued (apparently) customers entering the premises to spend our hard earned credit crisis cash. I can understand making it tricky to leave (especially if one has absent-mindedly or otherwise not paid) but why make the entry to their stores so unwelcoming? I go to my local Bunnings, K-Mart or Big W and there's usually someone standing there to welcome me in. "Hello Mr Ronan" they say. "Can we offer you a Laitte and a tasty Cinnamon bun"? OK maybe they don't actually say any of that but at least one feels welcome. Not so with a steel bar across the entry.