It's a bit of a nightmare we've created for ourselves, isn't it? How did we get to the point where your purchase at one store has become a kind of commercial go

It's a bit of a nightmare we've created for ourselves, isn't it? How did we get to the point where your purchase at one store has become a kind of commercial gossip bought and sold by companies, leveraged to sell even more things? Why can't a singular purchase be just that?