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AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006
THE (NOT SO) SKINNY ON ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES Have you jumped on the e-cigarette bandwagon? Electronic cigarettes have sprung up in the past year or so in a big way. There are “vapor” stores all over the Aiken-Augusta area to cater to the growing number of people who want to vape instead of smoke. Are e-cigarettes for you? Moe importantly, are they safer? Consider the standard warnings that have been on cigarette packages for the past several years: “Quitting Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health;” “Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide;” “Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy;” and “Smoking By Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, And Low Birth Weight.” By comparison, here is a warning label from an e-cigarette package: “This product is not a smoking cessation product and has not been tested as such. This product is intended for use by persons of legal age or older, and not by children, women who are pregnant or breast feeding, or persons with or at risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or taking medicine for depression or asthma. Nicotine is addictive and very habit forming, and it is very toxic by inhalation, in contact with the skin, or if swallowed. Nicotine can increase your heart rate and blood pressure and cause dizziness, nausea, and stomach pain. Inhalation of this product may aggravate existing respiratory conditions. Ingestion of the non-vaporized concentrated ingredients in the cartridges can be poisonous.” It also warns: “This product contains nicotine, a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.” It also says “Keep out of reach of children” and promises “important additional safety information” inside the package. Wow. Japanese researchers last week released a study which found that e-cigarettes Please see E-CIGARETTES page 15
Come and experience “the scrubs you love” today!
DECEMBER 5, 2014
Can we talk? “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Can you almost hear Andy Williams singing that line even now? Of course, Andy Williams probably never worked retail and had to deal with the public — you and me — all day long. Would you like to know what that’s like? You’re about to listen in on a reconstructed conversation between three employees who work retail in Augusta, one at Augusta Mall (AM), one at Augusta Exchange (AE), and the third on Washington Road (WR). WR: How is it at the mall right now? AM: People are bullies! I had a lady the other day demand a discount we weren’t offering. When I told her I couldn’t offer her that markdown, she threw the item at me. The hanger hit me in the eye. WR: I had a customer come in the day before a sale started and demand the price a day early because she’s from out of state. When she showed me her customer card I saw she’s from North Augusta. AM: We’ve had people try on garments in the changing rooms, and when they don’t fit, they rip them up and even urinate on them. AE: I can’t count the number of times we’ve gone into the rest
rooms — it’s almost always the ladies room — and found feces - yes, actual dookie! - smeared all over the walls! WR: That’s a regular occurrence at our store. I used to be surprised by it. Not any more. We also had a customer tell us she had come to the store a few days before to return merchandise she had bought at another one of our stores. When she was in the store that day, she said, she lost the bag, but didn’t say a word to anyone. After waiting a few days, she came back, told us she had lost the bag days before and told us she wanted a refund for everything that was in the bag that she lost! AM: Did she have a receipt? WR: Nothing. She just wanted
us to take her word that she had bought $300 of merchandise and wanted a refund for all of it. And she was very, very persistent. She caused quite a scene. Can you believe this conversation? We give you our word of honor, every word is true. (Full disclosure: the three retail employees have never met. The Examiner used its literary license to transform the true experiences of three employees we know into one conversation.) What do you think of the adage that “the customer is always right”? As bad as these tales are all year round — ask anyone you know who works retail — right Please see TALK? page 2
THE CARD THAT MAKES GIVING EASY Buy a $99 gift card and we’ll give you a $20 gift card FREE! LIMIT ONE PER PERSON. OFFER EXPIRES 12/24/14
(706) 364.1163 • WWW.SCRUBSOFEVANS.COM • 4158 WASHINGTON RD • ACROSS FROM CLUB CAR • M-F: 10-6:30; SAT: 10-4