Vending Machines and Drug Dealers Are Not That Different

All of them are based on addiction, easy money, and detriment to the health of their clients.

In my tiny town, some strange stores have been popping up everywhere. They are called 24-hour stores because they are open all day and night. Once tutoring centers, and small grocery stores, these new phenomena have replaced those obsolete forms of commerce.

These innovative stores for an old town like mine, but more of the same in any other urban spot, have nothing less than vending machines.

There you can find the most absurd things, from tissues to condoms, cakes, packets of potato chips, cookies, or juices full of sugar.

All despicable and unhealthy things that potheads look for at the end of a heavy puff.

And the local capitalist, who saw it as the find of the century, knows his clientele well.

These stores are also strategically positioned.

One replaces the tutoring center that, with no students, has declared bankruptcy, an indicator of the dystopian times in which we live.

Right next to the schools, these colorful trinkets attract young people with an unquenchable desire for sugar-filled junk at an age with little or no discernment about what is good or bad for their still-developing bodies.

And the owner who is filling his pockets brags shamelessly about making 300% profits with ease.

“People see this as an easy way out and pay four times as much for a chocolate bar that can be bought for a third of the price in any supermarket,” he says.

But at hours when they are drunk or high, no supermarket is open. So these stores are where last-minute hungry people gather in search of salt, sugar, or a condom that costs more than a whole box.

Of course, this is a matter of pride on the part of a man who is getting rich at the expense of degrading others’ health.

If there were any ethnicity in the capitalist market, no one would be proud of what it is doing to the local population and businesses. It is the law of the smartest, not the most ethical.

And of course, you may say that people are free to eat whatever they like. But then, a parallel with drugs is quickly drawn here. Also, only those who would want to consume it would do so.

But drug dealers exist, offering to those who are desperate, in exchange for a small fortune, which anything goes for those who really want to consume.

The difference is that some are illegal while others proudly display their exorbitant profit.

Both ruin health in different ways.

I see more and more obese kids overeating and eating poorly. They fill up on French fries, chocolates, and sugar-covered cakes.

Something that satiates and makes them fat in the short term and clearly leaves them hungry and weak in a short time afterward.

“ It’s a shame I can’t sell alcohol, and you’d have to ask for a license. Still, people could freak out, get drunk and destroy the whole place,” the owner says.

It would be a shame not to get drunk but to ruin the business.

As for ruining their health, that’s not up to him. Now the mentality between this man and a drug dealer is the same.

Hello, I’m Araci, a female writer from Portugal. I like to write about my country, Portugal. But I also enjoy pop culture, American culture, and cultural differences. I hope you’ve enjoyed this article!

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