Who's watching you?

My brother Dennis thinks I'm a little bit paranoid. I don't like the discount cards that nearly every supermarket has today.

Nope, not going to register for one, no matter how much money it saves me. I just don't want a database being built chronicling what I buy and how often I buy it. I know that whether I like it or not that kind of information is being collected but I'm just not going to participate in it anymore than I have to.

Dennis says he doesn't mind because he feels the supermarkets are buying his information by giving him the discounts. A good point. But it just doesn't sit well with me.

The other day I went online and visited Wal-Mart.com. I didn't fill out any forms. I didn't register for anything. I just cruised the site for about 10 minutes looking for some Wrangler jeans.

Imagine my surprise when an e-mail popped into my inbox. Wal-Mart was offering me a coupon if I bought merchandise online.

Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe not. But the coupon had the opposite affect on me. I deleted it and got off line as quickly as I could.