Man Creatively Uses His Super Long CVS Receipt to Fix His Broken Blind

Few things in this world are universally reviled, but most of us could probably agree that long lines, long-windedness, and long a** receipts such as those handed out by CVS are annoying.

They are the stuff of legend. Rolled out at basketball player heights, those infamous receipts have spawned memes, jokes, and of course, complaints. Instead of throwing his scroll in the garbage, Twitter user @andrewnolan2 decided to repurpose his after his blinds broke.

He posted a photo to Twitter showcasing his handiwork with this caption:

Yep, the receipt was the perfect replacement for the missing slat. The hilarious picture has been liked a few hundred thousand times with many of the people being fellow head-shaking receipt holders. But this just raises the question for the millionth time on why CVS does this, especially when you buy one or two things.

They are aware that these things border on needing their own zip codes, so how did we get here? This past October, Vox journalist Rachel Sugar investigated for herself. Suffering from a cold and curious about the endless spools of CVS paper, she did some comparison shopping among several stores.

She ran to Rite Aid, Duane Reade, CVS, and Stop & Shop to buy cough drops, making two trips to each – one with her rewards card, and one without. While the receipts that included bonus info from using the rewards card were a bit longer, the difference in length between non-card and card use was negligible.

For all stores except CVS, they ranged from 2.75 inches to 4.5 inches. CVS? The size difference between their regular receipt and the one printed using the “ExtraCare Card” was about 40 inches. Her receipt was a little over 4 feet long.

The brand knows it’s because of all the coupons and announcements that come with the ExtraCare program. According to CVS, many customers like it that way. Although the coupons are not really personalized to you and your buying habits, they typically include everything that qualifies for a discount based on something you just bought.

You can earn Extra Bucks (do any of you actually use those?) and use them like CVS currency. They accumulate when you spend a certain amount of dollars. If you are an ExtraCare member, the amount of credits you’ve earned is listed on that long receipt.

If you want to avoid the paper trail, there are a couple things you can do. One is to sign up for digital receipts, which can only be done at the register. The other is to download the CVS app to access all your coupons, points, deals, and other discounts. No need to print the coupons or drag around your receipts until you need to use one. Get the app!

You might be totally okay with their paper-burning method since they’ve been at this for at least a decade. But if you’re not, you’ll have to take matters into your own digital hands. You can also find humor in this by making a costume like the guy in this video. Watch this one until the end!

Are you camp printable or digital when it comes to CVS receipts? What’s the longest one you’ve ever recorded? Do you think they should shorten them (though they probably won’t)?