Passing it Backward

I was at the grocery store yesterday, a big chain (not important which), standing in line behind an elderly woman. When they rang her up they asked he if she'd like to donate to the Thanksgiving food drive they were running. The woman said, "No, I'm having enough trouble affording to feed myself."

So it occurred to me how backward this supposed promotion was. Here was a huge corporation hitting up their customers for donations to needy people, when some of their own customers might be those very people. I don't know whether this company donates some of their own profits to these charities, or if they just look on it as a self-funding way to get PR credit. 

But it backfires. "Why," someone behind me asked, "doesn't Albertsons just donate themselves instead of asking us to do it?"

Ooops, I revealed the chain.