I got an email from Chipotle telling me that I need to have Chipotle again in the next two weeks otherwise my points will expire. I haven’t eaten at a Chipotle since March. I used to eat there at least once a week on the road because Chipotle was conveniently located in the parking lot of my hotel in California (not THE Hotel California). 

I have 470 points. Once you earn 1250 points, you get a free entree. The problem is that you only get 10 points per $1 spent. That’s a long way to a free burrito bowl.

Why do these points have to expire at all? Six months is an arbitrary deadline for me to visit Chipotle and earn more points. And I guess I never really earned them anyway since they are going to disappear soon.

This reminds me of the phenomenon of content disappearing on streaming services. First, we were promised the dream of being able to stream anything we want at any time. Then we were told we had to sign up for all these different services in order to have access to all the different shows and movies. After dutifully paying monthly fees, I have to face the fact that content will eventually leave the platform. Now my choices about what to watch are influenced by what is “leaving soon.” 

Awhile back I was in the middle of a series on Amazon Prime and went to watch the next episode one day and discovered it had been taken off Prime. So much for that show.

I’m a paying customer. I paid my dues and earned the points and content. Why do they have to expire?