When was the last time you set foot inside a Wal-Mart store?

Be honest now.
And just to avoid the comments of "I only bought an ace bandage or a can of antifreeze when on the road." the question is really "When did you last spend more than $25 at Wal-Mart in a given calendar year."

maybe 5 or 10 years. i happened to be near one and heard that they had the new weight watchers muffins. they didn't. i picked up a few things. didn't find that their prices were any lower than target, whereas they used to be.

this was a big new walmart superstore. i must admit that every employee that i asked where something was knew exactly what aisle. i have found lately in some of the grocery stores the help does not know where anything is.

will i go to walmart again? probably not. it's not my kind of store.

Spent about $80

35 miles away with walmart only 3 :shrug:
I see it kinda like the ones who give me shit for driving an f150 and an explorer, that's what works for me

Once about ten years ago. Once about fifteen years ago.

Both times there was a pregnant woman with small children out front, smoking a cigarette.

Both times. Different woman. Different Wal-Mart.

I associate Wal-Mart with stupid people.

but I don't smoke and never have. So I guess I'm not stupid. In my neighborhood, everybody shops at WalMart.

My two year old grandson thinks WalMart is Nirvana.

I prefer Fresh Market for a shopping experience, but it is very expensive.

No kidding!

Went in to buy a see through bag for work. Before then, two years ago.

I didn't read the "$25 in a given year" part. That would be NEVER!
:bounce: :woohoo: :woohoo:

I wrongly answered 2004. In 2004 I bought: a garden hose spray nozzle that broke a few days later, a couple bags of potting soil, and a bag of chips. But that was maybe $15 total. I regretted spending money there, since the shopping experience made me depressed and the gadget broke right away.

Over the years I've spent about $25 total:woohoo:

two days later!

I haven't purchased any items at Walmart since.

Right after Christmas of 2004, I had to exchange an unneeded gift, & discovered it was purchased at Wal-Mart. So I searched for the nearest one, & remembered why I never go there! It was the most crowded, dirty, claustrophobic, cluttered store I've ever set foot in. And they wouldn't give me money back for the item; I used my shopping card to buy a cake pan which rusted out in 6 months & an iron which we've never used (if I need something pressed, it goes to the cleaners, I hate to iron. I bought it for company to use.)

And, this Wal-Mart had no books except for bodice-ripping romances & Bush-loving drivel. I was horrified.

I'm not going to trash anyone for shopping there--that's their choice to make--but I hate Wal-Mart & avoid it like the plague. Give me a clean, well-lit, spacious Target every time!

I hate walmart and refuse to set foot inside. I'm fortunate enough not to have one anywhere near me, and even more fortunate that I can afford to shop elsewhere if there was a walmart right next to me.

But shame on me for being so critical of others less informed, or even knowledgable, who shop there, especially those who can't afford to pay more from local retailers, because of the walmartization of the US in general. I'm afraid my head explodes lately, every time someone tells me they bought something at walmart. So for all you friends and family out there shopping at walmart - this is for you.
:nuke: (head exploding)

the Big Picture..it's doing your part to save America by NOT shopping at places like walmart who love bush tactics and hate America. They so wanted to get rid of the estate tax. :nuke:

I whore there occasionally. I don't like the place, I try to plan so that I can avoid it, but honestly, I live 60 miles from Tucson and getting multiple errands done in one day is rough, I often give in to the temptation to make ONE stop at that place to avoid driving all over town or running up the cell phone bill with calls to information. Otherwise I try to buy in my local small town - which is getting one this fall, know family will go there - I will try my utmost to resist.

Was there about 2 or 3 weeks ago looking for a cheap cassette to cassette recorder. They didn't have one but got an assortment of connectors to run my old deck into the computer. No help from the help. I hate going to the electronics dept there - I am always reminded of the hypocritical censorship they practice...bought some chlorine for the pool while we were there so it was over $25 for sure.

I don't buy food there, usually cheap shoes, sometimes kitchen stuff, gold fish (10 cents each folks!) for the stock troughs, and will hit it occasionally if Savers or other thrift stores don't have what the kids need to round out school clothes.

Why?

keep the water clean by eating algae. The also eat mosquito larvae. How cool is that?

http://www.cattletoday.com/forum/about20389.html

And harmless to the cattle!

do you think? My toddler grandson had to go to the hospital yesterday with a high fever and very, very swollen foot..reaction to a mosquito. Ever since Alberto went through we have standing water in the low land behind our lot and the skeeters are out there even in the morning. We are kind of prisoners in our AC oasis at the moment.

I'd put out some fish it would help!

also there are these supposedly safe mosquito larvae treatements you can put in standidng water that keeps them from maturing - might affect "good" bugs too though so use with caustion in a full "ecosystem" sort of situation. Another trick for small areas is vegatable oil - a small amount on the surface will keep the "wriggler" stage from breathing.

I am sure you are aware of the other recs - dump all standing water near house light clothing, DEET, stay in at dawn and dusk etc...

And if you want quick relief, get a bunch! You don't want to wait for them to have little ones...

little pond and foundtain in my front yard and I plan on putting some in there for mosquito control. I didn't know about the algae, however. That's a bonus.

I know in California the H.D. will give out free mosquito fish for ponds and so forth. Mosquito fish really keep the larvae down, more so then goldfish will. They also reproduce fairly quickly so you can move them to other free standing water as well. Hope this helps.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/06/16/mosquito.fish.ap/index.html

Scientists breed fish to feast on Gulf Coast pests

Friday, June 16, 2006; Posted: 10:07 a.m. EDT (14:07 GMT)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- In a large aboveground pool, entomologists are breeding front-line mosquito fighters.

Hiding in the fibrous root systems dangling in the brown water, these fighters -- hundreds of inch-long, guppy-like minnows -- are being raised to be deployed to thousands of festering, flooded-out pools and hot tubs abandoned in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina last August.

Their mission: devour mosquito larvae and, potentially, prevent the spread of diseases like mosquito-borne encephalitis and the sometimes deadly West Nile virus. In the process, they'll help minimize one of this region's most annoying summer pests.

"They're incredible little fish," said Greg Thompson, a research entomologist for the New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board, as he sprinkled flakes of fish food into the harvesting pool.

The fish have been used to control mosquito populations since the 1930s, but this post-Katrina offensive marks the first time they've been harvested by the thousands for deposit into pools that have become scummy breeding tanks for mosquito larvae.
***

plus what you mention below and they are just pretty. way cheaper than koi! As long as they have the space they will get quite large too. Coati's and racoons and bobcat will come in and fish for them in the smaller troughs, so I have to replace them occasionally.

We used to have a huge 60K open storage and that is where this tradidtion started. As kids we spent many summers here on the ranch and one year my younger sister decided she was tired of her pet goldfish so we dumped them in the tank. A few years later there were tons of them and the older ones were HUGE - like 8 to 10 inches. That tank is out of commission now because it was leaking so bad, not to mention surface evaporation, but I like to keep the fishies around. Probably gambusia - real mosquito fish - would do better but you can barely see them.

between all the flying things that fall in there and the algae (and the occasional death loss) they do more than fine! In a small yard pond I would say yes feed them a little - same rules as aquariums - just what they will eat in a few minutes, overfeeding just makes yucky water.

In the winter when it gets cold they slow way down and don't need much - and there are lots of aquatic bugs anyway. They will make it fine even when there is ice on the water.

I used to put em in the horse water trough. Scared me to death... I thought the horses would accidentally drink em (ew!), but they never did! Kept the water clean and no mosquitos.

Also I had a half-barrel water garden. It was hosting larva, so put a couple goldfish in there & no more problem.

Had a teeny little garden pond... same deal.

Never fed any of them. They seem to make do by themselves.

(Mosquitos are very bad news. They carry numerous diseases... West Nile and also Equine Encephalitus.)

I basically shop there because most of the more expensive store are out of the budget of a person on disability and who is a bit on the heavy size. also for quite a while I did the shopping for an elderly Friend and she sent me there.

I am big with some moderate mobility problems and WalMart is my biggest exercise of the week. I am sometimes tempted to get the cart but have resisted so far.

with aspergers and other learning problems. My elderly freind is physically disabled which is why she had me run her errands.

desperately trying to find a school uniform for my son three months after school started.

the one in west palm beach was gross. dirty, disorganized, badly stocked and
with no discernible sales help.

i'd rather go to the goodwill or salvation army any day.

Long, boring story, but I found myself in the position of wanting to buy a video game at about 1am. (Sounds silly, but the reason is in that long, boring story.) In the town where I was, nothing was open at 1am except Wal-Mart, and the only other store in town that might have had it wouldn't be open the next day.

So, I spent $29.95 (plus tax) there.

I've been in one since, but I haven't spent any money there.

... about Wal-Mart's sh*tty business practices.

Depressing, upsetting, infuriating. Rent it, and you'll NEVER set foot in there again, if you still do.

Made me furious. I knew most of the information presented, but not all - such as the violence in the parking lots and lack of security for customers and the tiny amount of money the Walton's have donated to the employee fund for disasters.

I stepped into a Wal-Mart in May with my mother, but I didn't purchase anything. Honestly can't remember the last time I bought anything in that ghastly place.

And i never will go in one . I would rather have nothing or buy anything before paying a visit to wally world . I have always had a problem with the box store take over and the fall of the independant business .
I saw a segment on book tv about a month ago with some fellow who wrote a book on wally world and got the impression he worked for them too . He gave the history and was proud and then went on to the present and became even more puffed up like morning rooster even in light of how wal-mart forced an american sprinkler company who still met wally's low price but wal=mart made it clear that if he did not close his factory and setup in china wal-mart would not buy from him but instead from a chinese company already setup to go .

some of us have to eat at real world prices, w.out walmart groceries would be thru the roof around here

and be honest, their booze prices, what booze they have, is the best also, hell, they even have woodford reserve sometimes at a knock off price (is this louisiana or what?)

. . . my husband and I discovered, about five years ago, that our prescriptions cost less at WalMart. Since then, we purchase not only our prescriptions there, we also purchase laundry products, paper products, toiletries, etc.--all of them brand-names but costing less than in other stores. A couple of days ago, the WalMart where we shopped became a Superstore; and, more than likely, we'll be checking out the cost of food products the next time we have a prescription refilled. If that makes us "stupid", so be it. When/if some of you young-uns get to be our age, maybe you'll have earned the right to be "stupid" too! ;-)

Edited to add: The last time we did any shopping at WalMart was on June 2nd, when we refilled 9 prescriptions.

is because they ROB from the very people that work there, on practically all levels. Stealing OT, displacing domestic manufacturing, etc. Thanks to people JUST LIKE YOU, who SUPPORT ILLEGAL actions, hundreds of THOUSANDS of people are perpetually poor. So yes, I call that stupid.

. . . people working at the local WalMart(s) aren't complaining because they're glad to have any work at all . . . without having to pick up and leave this area to find employment elsewhere in the U. S.! So . . . (sigh)

In an area where heavy industries as well as the olde downtown shopping areas have become a thing of the past, a WalMart opening nearby seemed/seems like a god-send to folks who found work there.

But, then, again: Who knows? Perhaps all good working folks--such as those who found work at WalMart--are just "stupid" and "inhuman" for earning their own keep and, thereby, taking jobs away from illegal immigrants who are known to be needed to do the work that U. S. citizens are too good to do! (**shrug**)

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

now there is a phrase that is just guaranteed to promote understanding and dialogue.

Get off your high horse. Where people shop is not a moral value. You have no idea what circumstances lead people to make personal decisions. I have a fundamentalist neighbor who uses that phrase a lot. Many things "digust" her.

But then I guess you live a stellar, green, left-friendly life...kind of a saint, huh? And nothing you do will ever disgust anyone. How nice for you.

I shop at WalMart and I have a big car. Sorry I don't meet your qualifications for admirable citizenship.

I am sorry that your vision is so narrow. But I won't put a "puke" smiley on my post because I believe that's about the lowest thing you can do here on DU.

How pitiful.

have been pushed out long ago in my town. And the remaining competitors have been reduced to near nothingness. I shop them when I can, but if I want vegetables more "exotic" than lettuce I have no choice. Either that or hand my money to BP and drive 30 miles to Trader Joes. A once a month trip.

If I want anything organic and I want to shop in my town I have to shop wal mart. The same is true for my Boca products as well.

For those that hate Wal-Mart you'd be served just as well if you turn attention to Lowes and Home Depot, Chilis and Starbucks and on and on. Wal-mart is just part of a business model they all follow. The result for the community is the same. Strip mall public squares, small business owners beholden to their "franchise fee", and civic culture reduced to consumption, while the community is divided blaming each other for the dependencies that have been created in the process.

are. We have absolutely no ma/pa grocery even if I could afford them. There is an IGA near the coast but it is very smelly and 30 miles away. Basically we have Albertson's, Publix and Winn Dixie... all huge corps. I go with the cheapest one and root for whatever policing agencies there are to slug it out, apply the law, and/or wait for the Congress to legislate new laws. In the meantime I have a very specific amount to spend on groceries. I watch the ads, cut out coupons, buy specials and hit WM a lot.

Then I stop at Fresh Market to shop in quiet lighting with baraque music and five dollar pineapples. Usually I get something from the bakery there.

I saw recently that Amazon.com is offering at home grocery shopping for dry goods. Wonder how the prices would be?

Why don't YOU get locked into a store, with CHAINED up FIRE doors, or work 50 hours one week and only get paid for 36, all that type of shit done just so you can save your 18 fucking dollars. :puke:

You can't judge somebody if they're just scraping by and need to feed their family.

Not everyone lives near a wide variety of stores, and not everybody can afford to pay high prices. Have some empathy -- isn't that what our side is about?

There is a whole list of things you have to follow in order to be in line with progressive ideals.

Just like on the other side, there is a whole list you have to follow in order to be in line with conservative ideals.

Same concept; same sheep. Different shepherd.

Thanks for attempting to defend my point.

OT STOLEN from ME and over 100,000 others because of Wal-Mart's practices in shaving time off the paycheque. I'm fucking pissed, and you know what, I have a RIGHT to be pissed!

You have no right to judge people who can barely make ends meet. You have no idea what their economic situation is, and I find it ironic that the person who complains about Wal-Mart used to WORK there.

Tell me, why did you work there? Was it the only game in town? If it was, then maybe you'd understand why some people have to shop there.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2951993

Also, as far as taking it out on some DUers, let's see, oh yeah the attitude of "I got mine, FUCK YOU!" of one is aggrevating, and the other simply doesn't give a flying fuck. Why should I care about their excuses?

Their attitude is "How can I save my limited amount of money in order to provide for my family?"

They may not have expressed it in the way you liked, but then again, what business is it of yours why they go there? And what's your situation? What do you earn per year? Any kids? Any debt? I don't know if you've noticed, but the economy's in the toilet -- people will do what they have to do just to stay afloat.

I'm unemployed, have a pinched nerve in my left shoulder(I'm left handed), unfortunately, I injured it while still within the 90 day limit in my new job, so no insurance. Also, thanks to Matt Blunt, I don't qualify for Medicare or Medicaid and also, I require surgery to correct this, in addition to that, I'm now forced to live with my parents at the moment, and I'm just HOPING my best friend can hook me up with an office job, that pays really well, just so I can pay for my surgery, because if I leave it be, I'll lose total use of the arm. Did I mention the constant pain, its like a hot poker is jabbed in my shoulder, and at the same time my arm tingles like my funny bone was hit, constantly. So forgive me for being a little short.

But it's still no reason to take it out on fellow disadvantaged liberals trying to feed their families.

You didn't mention any kids of yours, but some of the posters you attacked ARE raising kids on meager salaries. All I'm saying is have some empathy for people, that's it.

Besides, they bought into a lie anyways, remember I WORKED at Wal-Mart, read my previous link VERY carefully. I know how they operate, I participated at the time. "Always low prices" my ASS!

But you still haven't accepted that not everybody can afford to pay more.

One poster that you attacked mentioned she'd have to pay $400 more for prescriptions anywhere else. I seriously doubt she shops there in order to screw over the little guy -- she just needs to save money on LIFESAVING medication.

Believe me, I wish Wal-Mart didn't exist. I know about their horrible business practices, and I haven't shopped there in years, ever since becoming aware of their true actions. Of course, I don't live anywhere near a Wal-Mart now, but I still wouldn't shop there even if I did. But I'm also not as financially strapped as many less fortunate people and I have many available shopping alternatives, so that's easy for me to say.

I realize you probably won't budge from your attacks on fellow DUers, but all I ask is that you think about this with a cool head. Thanks.

Kudos to you.

in regards to Pharmacuticals. This only makes sense, because Wal-Mart, on average, isn't really cheaper than their competitors, ESPECIALLY in areas where they have a monopoly. Wal-Mart has "Rollbacks" and other things on about ONLY 1% of all items they carry, if that, all the rest are the same damned price as anywhere else. The only exception is when they face semi-serious competition. To give an example with the store I worked at, OK, we had an HQ home improvement store as competition for our department, no other department store had a "Lawn and Garden" that is nearly as big as ours, so they weren't competition. We, normal associates, were sent to HQ for "comp shopping", to see what the prices are on the same items we carry. We went, recorded the prices, tried NOT to get caught, and then went back to Wal-Mart. About a year later, HQ closed up shop, and Wal-Mart then raised the prices of items they KEPT in the RED so they can get a profit from them. This, I believe, is illegal, undercutting is the term I believe.

Now, within six months, our store faced competition again, Home Depot opened up its doors, and wouldn't you know, the prices on items in our department dropped, dramatically. Now, a couple of things to keep in mind, many items in Lawn and Garden are domestically made, they have to be, too many perishables and climate dependent products, but of the items that ARE made elsewhere, you wouldn't BELIEVE the profit margins, first, Wal-Mart carries its own brand for many items, and they make a killing on substandard crap, lawn chairs that retail for 20 bucks cost Wal-Mart about 2 bucks to get, and they don't even bother advertising for them, so even calculating in any overhead costs, it couldn't add no more than a couple more bucks per unit, so you do the math on the profit margin. That's only the beginning too.

Now, to be honest, outside of Home Depot, we also have Lowes and an Ace Hardware, Ace Hardware had to relocate closer to our city center, to get more business, Home Depot and Lowes are too big and too varied for our Wal-Mart to compete. The Wal-Mart around here is simply too small to compete with either of them, they are HUGE stores, half of which is lumber. So they don't bother.

The problem is one of perception, I can give you a classic example of this. Last year the St. Louis Post-Dispatch did a study on grocery prices in our area, OK, Wal-Mart tried to build a supercenter here, forget that shit, we have 2 major grocery chains, all Union. Now, these chains are have reputations, nothing about being dirty, but actually perceptions on which is upscale or lot. First one I'll mention is Shop n' Save, as the name suggest, they bill themselves as the cheapest of the 3, a bag your own groceries type of store, the next is Schnuck's, a locally owned outfit that is considered by most as middle of the road. Then there is Dieberg's another local outfit, its been around since 1854, and is considered by most as upscale. OK, the Post-Dispatch did a price study on all three stores and found something that is considered counterintuitive, the store with the lowest average grocery bill is, Dierberg's. However, all 3 stores are competitvely priced, so, to be honest, to save the MOST money, shop at all 3.

All Wal-Mart has going for it is good PR on the price front, in addition to breaking the law.

I'd be pissed, too! I hope you get compensation if you deserve it.

But we're talking about your life and mine. I don't know you, never met you, have no idea about your trials and tribulations and you have no idea about mine.

But you are telling people they DISGUST YOU because of where they choose to grocery shop. I'm trying to encourage you to back away and look at it through a more objective lens.

But if you can't do that, you can't. It's okay. We will agree to disagree and you can still eat cookies on my front porch. I will make sure I make them with Publix flour and sugar.

Imagine this analogy, if you will, you come home one night, and find your house is broken into and most of your stuff stolen. Call the police, never found the perps, whatever. Anyways, let's say the next week, you see someone on the street wearing your grandmother's necklace, which was stolen in the Break in. You confront them, and ask where they got the necklace, they say the pawn shop. You demand it back, and they say, "I don't know you, why should I care?"

Same exact shit. No more excuses.

in my opinion. In your analogy, the pawn shop is liable. No offense to you, but to me, you are a few paragraphs on my computer screen. I have no idea who you are. For all I know you are a twelve year old. Or perhaps you are a union activist trying to bring WalMart down. Or maybe you are a freeper having fun. None of us know about each other here. The fact that a person on a 90K discussion board had a bad experience with WalMart is really not quite enough for me to make a decision to spend four hundred dollars more a month on prescriptions and groceries.

I understand your angst. I do not, however share it. I have tried to wave an olive branch, you have refused it.

Your loss.

Other than that, who said I was the only one?

Here's one involving discrimination of women, I witnessed this first hand myself...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5269131/

Here's another one that includes me in the "list" so to speak.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2005-11-02-walmart-employees_x.htm

To put it bluntly, Wal-Mart is a criminal organization, I've seen them violate several different laws in my time working there. All these concerns shouldn't be dismissed lightly, even if it cost YOU money.

be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

It was "Always the Low Price", they were forced to change it, for a very simple reason, they lied, so now its "Always low prices, Always." This guy actually give a good example as to why, here:

http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2005/07/always_low_pric.html

This is perhaps the most aggrevating part, if you have a choice, and are discriminating in what you buy, you can save JUST as much elsewhere than you would at Wal-Mart.

Your horse is so high with arrogance you couldn't get off it without a ladder. So stay up there. It is entertaining. But you really need to stop purging. It is bad for your teeth.

I guess you, personally, handle all your trash because your trash collector doesn't get enough money? Doesn't get paid for overtime? Works in a dangerous situation?

Excesses happen. It is not up to me to fix them. I rely on our system of laws for that. I'll vote for the folks who do the best job with that. That is MY responsibility in the system.

And $18 is a whole lot of money and that is just for ONE purchase. I estimate I save three or four hundred a month by shopping at WalMart. And I do the math, clip the coupons, go to the stores with the best buys. This is not money that I save that will send me to the Riviera for the holidays. It is savings for medical emergencies, fixing the car, the AC, buying clothes for the kids.


If you are naive enough to think that the populace is going to pass up lower prices in today's economy, with layoffs, drawdowns and rising gas prices then I feel for you because you must have a lot of disappointment. WalMart will remain on top as long as the prices are low or until it is stopped from illegal activities by the government. Whether I shop there or not makes no difference in the long run. But it makes enormous difference to my life.

On edit: I am happy to see that your "you disgust me" post was deleted. As it should have been.

that's the estimate from the lawyers in the Class action, and you know what, I most likely will never see a dime of that money, ever. So forgive me if I do not sympathize with your "plight". My only hope is to help, in some small way, in ENDING Wal-Mart's abuses against their employees, and you know what, if it will cost you an extra 18 fucking dollars to do it, then it is worth it.

If there is no other store in the area? Walmart has already pushed out other stores of its type, and might be the only one in a 100 mile radius that people can shop in.

The sad thing is, the people who shop there tend to be the people who are also getting screwed by walmart.

Target isn't any better, they just have better PR

:eyes:

. . . Or suppose that, upon entering a Goodwill, they need a gas-mask to avoid the choking smell of burning incense--or is it a burning scented candle? Cheap room-spray(s)? How desperate a WalMart worker must be to purchase clothing that reeks with a combination of sickly scents burnt or sprayed around in a futile effort to cover up the stench of donated body-odor, mildew, and wet dog after the dog has rolled around in the unearthed remains of a dead 'possum! (Personally, when it comes to shopping in the Goodwill in our county, I think I can get by--another year--with the same winter coat I purchased before I quit working in 1980.)

Seriously, Solon: I'm sure there are WalMart workers in your area who do their shopping at the Goodwill in your area. WalMart workers in the Columbus OH area more than likely shop at the Goodwill there, too. It's a decent store with some pretty nice stuff to choose from. Our daughter and son-in-law shop there. Can't say the same thing about the one my husband and I visited last fall and closer to home. That doesn't mean, however, that WalMart workers--somewhere--aren't also WalMart shoppers. For instance:

There was a photo in the local newspaper, about a week-and-a-half ago, when a WalMart across the river in St. Clairsville Oh had a grand opening of its superstore . . . and there were about fifteen or twenty WalMart employees in that photo. Most of the ladies in the photo were wearing slacks and pedal-pushers, plus sandals and shoes that came from either the racks and shelves at WalMart or K-Mart. They were wearing the same Spring (uh) fashions that are available at both places right now.

Also: I noticed that your post #27 was deleted. Because it was addressed to me, I want you to know that I don't like to see something like that happen to anyone . . . no matter how offensive the post might be to other people. (Of course, if I'd complained, it would be a different story.)

P.S.
I read down through most of this thread and saw the reply you made to somebody wherein you blame your present physical pain, etc. for your being "short" with people. Since you've explained yourself and/or your attitude, perhaps you might sympathize with mine if you'd read post #250 (in reply to post #169). Meantime . . .

Take care. Be good. Chin up. Don't take any wooden nickels. Look both ways. And all like that there.

For more of a hint of where my attitude is coming from, see Posts 7 & 14 at the following URL:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1453856

Hang in there, Solon!

"But, then, again: Who knows? Perhaps all good working folks--such as those who found work at WalMart--are just "stupid" and "inhuman" for earning their own keep and, thereby, taking jobs away from illegal immigrants who are known to be needed to do the work that U. S. citizens are too good to do! (**shrug**)"

:yourock: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

Thanks! I needed that.

((((( Cobalt Violet )))))

On the backs of children in sweatshops who make your products, on the backs of those who lost better paying jobs at locally owned businesses, and on the backs of those who were fired for trying to start a union at Walmart. That makes you an active and willing participant in all of those things. If you can live with that in order to save a few pennies on Toilet Paper...then I guess you'll continue to shop there.

There are/were no "...better paying jobs at locally owned businesses...." in this area when WalMart opened up shop . . . and, as far as I know, nobody was "...fired for trying to start a union at Walmart." in this area . . . this area, where any work is better than no work at all!

As for "...children in sweatshops who make your products....": Since when did sweatshops begin manufacturing Norvasc, Cardiazem LA, Combivent, Flovent, etc., etc., etc.?

As for "...standing on the backs of others."? Please get off our backs! We're retired union workers (in our 70s and 80s) who are mighty damned weary of being lectured to by snot-nosed know-it-alls who don't know an effin' thing about our circumstances. So . . . :eyes:

Needless to say, your attempt at laying a guilt-trip ain't workin'.

(**Sheesh**) Get a life!

First, I doubt you could know for a fact if someone was fired for starting a union at your town's walmart, but regardless, you're still giving money to a corporation that spends millions a year in illegal union busting tactics. The money you spend at your Walmart is supporting the entire corporation. You are supporting that activity and you therefore share part of the responsibility for it. I'm sure that the UFCW and UNITE/HERE thank you for stabbing them in the back.

You already admitted you buy more than drugs at Walmart so don't try to weasel out of the sweatshop argument now.

I have a life, one that doesn't sacrifice my values for nickles and dimes.

. . . I don't have any way to "...know for a fact if someone was fired for starting a union...." at the Walmart located in the town closest to my home . . . mainly because it just opened a few months ago. Believe it or not, however, when that WalMart was being built and illegal immigrants were found to be working for one of the construction contractors, there wasn't a single union speaking out in the local media or even picketing the place! Go figure, right? I mean: Sometimes it looks kinda like the unions are stabbing themselves in the back.

You're also correct in saying that I admitted to purchasing more than drugs at WalMart. If you're interested, our most recent purchases (early this month) included the following: Scott toilet paper, Puffs-plus tissues, Dawn dish detergent, Clorox Clean-up, Dial soap, Jergens lotion, Clorox bleach, Tide detergent, Band-Aids, HP printer-cartridge, Park's Whopper tomato and Bell pepper plants, Lipton teabags (which were in a main aisle near the checkout counters and cost $2 less than at the Kroger's), and a Father's Day surprise (a DVD).

Oh! . . . And! . . . You'd be surprised how many union workers we meet shopping at the WalMart . . . some, we haven't seen for years anywhere else. It is, after all, difficult to make ends meet on our piddly union pensions; but those who are still employed in union jobs don't seem to hesitate nickle-n-dimein' at the WalMart, either! If that's more rationalizing and excuses on my part, so be it. I've earned the right to rationalize and excuse myself from conforming to your values.

BTW: We paid for those items with two WalMart giftcards received from the WalMart Pharmacy when we transferred our prescriptions. Those won't, however, be our last purchases there . . . God willin' and the crick don't rise, that is!

Have a nice day!

how you avoid purchasing things made by sweatshops? What clothes do you wear? What shoes?

How about fruits and vegetables? Migrant laborers picked them.

If you eat and wear clothes today (unless you make you own and garden) then you, too, are standing on the backs of children in sweatshops....etc.

The fact that there's no perfect place to shop, is no excuse to patronize the worst place, that drives the race to the bottom.

And yes, I'm careful about where I shop. My last jeans were Lucky brand because they're made in the USA. I buy locally grown organic veggies from my local co-op, so no migrant workers. You can find fair-trade clothing if you look for it. American Apparel is getting well known but there are other options. I know its more expensive, and that's one reason I don't buy much, but not buying much is better for the planet anyway.

I can see me stuffing my girth into American Apparel jeans. We large folks are very limited in where we can buy clothing. Not a lot of 5x's around. I have no idea what fair trade clothing even IS. So a lot of us shop at WalMart where we can get larger sizes...because, of course, we are stupid.

No co-op around for me. One in town, 30 miles away. There are bins in some of the grocery stores that say "organic." You pay half again as much for them and I have no idea who picks them. I tend to not trust the signs.

Now, you say WalMart is "the worst place." How do you know that? We have one ma and pa appliance store around here and the owner is a Grand Wizard in the Klan. So, see, you DON'T know what other people's situations are. And yet you make these sweeping generalizations and disparage other people's choices. Which is exactly what the fundamentalists do. I have always heard if you go far enough to the right and far enough to the left, you will meet up in the middle. I believe you have reached that point.

Obviously this is something you feel strongly about, and that is fine. We all have our "things." But yours is not mine and I really wish you would respect that.

that exploits and oppresses others, to the greatest extent that I am able. Yes, that makes me a radical. I believe when you shop at Walmart you support that system. That's fine but at least be honest about your explicit approval and participation in Chinese sweatshops, union busting and destruction of the environment. You are participating in those things with your dollars whether you choose to see it or not.

Here I thought I was a pretty decent person and all.

Guess I just suck, huh?

Well, I have to see if the little Chinese girls I bought last week from WalMart are done with tilling that garden.

Not everybody can afford to shop at more expensive stores, and not everybody lives near a viable alternative for shopping.

I don't think you can totally blame her.

of being altruistic in their purchasing habits.

I take Nexium. It is $40 a month (with insurance) at Albertson's (who by itself is a mega corp) and $22 at Walmart. That is 18 dollars more a month I can spend on food for my family.

I don't call that stupid, I call it looking out for my family and feeding them.

Their prescriptions are even cheaper.

and I wish we did. The only warehouse is....Sam's. I think a Costco would do well here.

There's no Costco or anything else like that . . . and no Mom-&-Pop stores. Oh, but . . . there's more than enough boarded-up storefronts downtown . . . thanks to the death-throes of the Industrial Age.

Anyway . . . (tsk!)

The WalMart where we were having our prescriptions filled is located across the river in Ohio and a 45-50 minute drive from here. There's a K-Mart and a CVS over there . . . and a Kroger store where we were purchasing our groceries (and, thus, avoiding West Virginia's tax on food, BTW).

Earlier this spring, another WalMart opened--in our home-county--and it's only a 25-30 minute drive from home. We transferred our prescriptions to the new WalMart Superstore and began shopping for groceries at the nearby Kroger (only other choice is a Giant Eagle store) . . . meaning that, while we're using less gasoline, we're now back to paying taxes on our groceries. We have yet to check out the new WalMart's grocery department for anything but milk . . . which was selling for a dollar per half-gallon at the Kroger the week we filled our prescriptions.

Etc., etc., etc. :eyes:

they are getting ready to build one in my town. There is already a walmart 5 miles down the road in either direction but they really want to build on in our town.

So...what will that mean??? Well the small shops in our town are already anticipating it and preparing to sell to retire/move.

Eventually when they become the only game in town...they raise their prices because they have a captive audience who can't afford to go anywhere else.

I know folks sometimes have no choice but to shop there but there is a price and personally our local WalMarts are cheap on some items but more expensive or no deal on others.

I shop at the local grocery store chain that has a union. Some of the employees are people I went to high school with and many have been there for 10 or more years...which means that they are probably being treated well by the store...

*note..our local grocery store has generic brands that I buy including cleaning products that are just as good as the brand name...

Because of the manganese if our public water supply, we found that we can't use certain laundry products because of the chemical reaction. For instance: Chlorine bleach turns the wash water brown and discolors white clothing . . . EXCEPT when you add OxyClean to the water first (plus Tide liquid). Don't know why that combination works . . . just glad to find that it does because, after repeated washings, I notice some of my older towels and cotton underwear are becoming whiter. (Or, else, my eyesight is getting worse!)

As for the WalMart that recently opened in our home county: The county commissioners were more than a little pleased that WalMart chose our county-seat--instead of the county-seat north of ours--to build the new superstore. Jobs 'r' jobs and business is Business . . . or haven't you heard? . . . our State is no longer the "Wild and Wonderful" one . . . we're now the one that's "Open For Business"! :eyes:

Sorry 'bout dat . . . but I should have been in bed hours ago, bleedingheart.

And no, I don't "love" their low prices. I'm in a small city and they are one of the few places open all night that have items I may need. . .like a keyboard that suddenly stops. . .

I split my shorts climing into my minivan & I was on my way to taking my daughter to Children's hospital. Wal-Mart was the only thing open between here and htere. So I'm strolling her into Wally World with my pants split open to buy a new pair. But the shorts cost 9 bucks so I guess it doesn't count (thanks for the loophole, burch!)/

It was the first time I've set foot into one in at least 10 years.

On edit: To answer your question: Boxers underneath.

but, your "split shorts" cracked me up, just because the same thing happened to me, but fortunately I was close enough to home that I could run by and change.

While I haven't personally shopped at Walmart for more than five years, I can understand why some people do. I think Walmart, more than any other factor, has been the catalyst for the destruction of Downtown USA. The small Mom & Pop stores just can't compete. Hopefully, I'll never have to spend another dime there.

Thanks for the good vibes. "Children's hospital" sounds like a serious doctor's visit, but this is the shit you have to do when you don't have insurance: wait 6 hours in an emergency room to administer a freakin' laxative.

My wife happens to run a kids' boutique in one of those idyllic Main Street ghost-towns that got eaten by Wal-Mart. People say they are grateful we're here, but they still shop... there. go figure. Problem is, our Chamber of Commerce & city commission want it both ways - pretty Main Street storfronts to look at, and crappy big box stores on the other side of town to create crappy jobs. Wal-mart is now in every freaking town with a reasonable customer base along the I-75 corridor. It's like cancer for the small businessperson.

Even though we don't directly compete products-wise, people don't even think to go downtown to shop anymore.

ok enough complaining. If i wore a much, much smaller size, I could get my pants wholesale :)

Our local small town (motto - we will take ANYTHING if it equals a hint of growth) was pretty gung-ho to have them come in - city bought the land and brought it up to code for them and everything. :mad:

Strange, but true. So, do I suport the local (75 miles away) small tortilla producer by buying their product at Walmart, or do I shop at Piggly Wiggly and buy the dried out tortilla shells made by a huge corporation 1000+ miles away...? (And no, making my own is not an option.)

Life isn't always simple.

edit: just noticed the $25 wiggle room clause- the tortilla shells are 33 cents for a dozen, so I might be under the limit...

- and Walmart is considered The Place to souvenir shop in Hawaii. They carry all the local candy, nuts, gee-gaws, Hawaiian shirts, etc. that tourist are looking for to drag home for friends and relatives and they are much less expensive than Hilo Hattie's or similar shops. The shirts were marked and tagged as locally made and were really nice.

I set foot in the same Walmart everyday. When I work weekends I step foot in five different Walmarts. Oh but I don't ever spend money in one. I work for Loomis Fargo and we have the national contract to pick up their money. Walmart security won't let us in the room where the safe is kept because of petty cash lying around even though they are about to give me $100,000 + to transport to the bank.

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I've just seen a zillion comments here on how "I'd never shop at Wal-Mart" and I wondered how long "never" was.

there.I live in a rural area,where I have to drive 25 miles to get to a decent store.I could rise up on principle,but then my kids wouldn't get Christmas.You see,WalMart is the only store that lets you lay-away things as well.Judge not,folks,lest ye be judged.

Some people simply have no other options!!!

However, those of us who DO have other options really ought not patronize the place. The GOP Crime Syndicate always talks about "voting with your wallet", and so, we should.

but I'm kinda lucky. We have a Costco membership and warehouse that is a little further of a drive than the local Wal-Mart. I understand that a lot of people don't have this choice so, I cut them some slack.

Funny enough when the local Wally World opened here in 1992, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, but back then they weren't selling crap made in China, most of their products were made here in the USA.

However, I try to avoid going there now at all costs. Besides our local Wally World has a picket line constantly in front of it from the local carpenter's union and I never have crossed a picket line in my life. I'm afraid if I did, my father would come back and haunt me.

fuck the american economy- as long as I get to save a couple bucks.

great attitude...:eyes:

raising kids as a single parent on a low income. If you can save a buck on a pair of shoes or even fifty cents on a package of toilet paper, you do it, regardless of where you have to shop. If you can save $5.00 to $10.00 a week, it can make a big difference in whether you have that gallon of milk for the kids or that gallon of gas so you can get to work.

americans are more and more about rationalizing taking the easy way out for themselves.

and i'll bet they could save a lot more on ebay & at secomd hand stores than they can at walmart...personally, i'd rather have used high-quality products than the "new" crap they sell at super discount stores like walmart anyway.

I grew up in a family like that. I shopped at thrift shops, yard sales and second hand stores for clothing for my kids, too, but there are just some necessities you can't buy second hand like soap, toilet paper and groceries, to name a few. You can't condemn or belittle people for trying to live within their means, even if they shop at a store that you don't approve of.

because i realize just how bad walmart really is for our country.

i just wish that more people did.

but they'll just continue to rationalize us farther down the shithole.

thanks.

for my prescription drugs, glasses, and veggies!

Actually, I hit Goodwill once a week. I give them as much as I buy from them. My house is like a Goodwill revolving door.

So what if the lens aren't your prescription and the veggies are made of wax.;)

I'd hate having your shopping choices. Big box stores aren't for me. It's a combination of the lighting and the overwhelming level of merchandise and too frequently, the chaos. I had to go to Home Despot yesterday because the smaller chain didn't have what we needed. I needed a glass of wine after that.

There are five small thrift stores within five miles of my house --- shopper's paradise for me.

in years...brought back memories.

Lately I have been getting a lot of stuff from overstock.com. They have good prices and very low delivery..about three bucks. Cheaper than Amazon, usually.

and Goodwill for pretty much everything else. Plus garbage cans, don't miss those. And if you think I'm exhaggerating, don't make me laugh.

young, my husband's big treat on Saturday was buying a pint of beer if we'd budgeted right. If Walmart had existed, I would have trolled the aisles.

"I have to feed my children" is the most common excuse used by middle-class people with decent incomes who like to shop at Walmart. It sounds good and is hard to argue with, but it's usually complete BS.

Walmart is not that much cheaper than K-mart, Target, or Costco. And really poor people can't even afford Walmart. A study was done that showed that a single parent with several kids working at Walmart can't afford to shop at Walmart. The next time you go to Walmart, consider that many of the people you see working there can't afford to shop there on their income.

my family is more important to me than "the American economy."

That's my attitude and I'm sticking with it.

as long as you're proud to be a part of the problem.

after all- the 18 families behind the repeal of the estate tax have the same exact attitude.

But I am a realist. And pragmatic. I am neither proud nor ashamed. It is not my priority. My first priority is to raise my family, put them through school, pay the doctor bills, etc. My next priority is to teach the children in my care. I look at it this way. For every rabid anti-WalMart individual out there, there is another equally rabid pro-WalMart individual who is going to cancel him out. I do not see the benefit in this case of acting on principal. Every other choice in my town is, itself, part of mega corporate America. They are all the same. My son in law worked for Albertson's for years. They are not nice folks, either. Publix is owned by right wingers. There is always some reason, somewhere, to boycott somebody. Time, value, convenience...these are the things that help me in my life to serve in my own way.

And the families behind the estate tax repeal haven't spent close to four decades living on a teacher's salary, taking care of kids. Society doesn't reward me particularly well for doing what I consider the most important work in the world. My husband was a teacher for 30 years as well. If we were wealthy folks we'd have the luxury to be obedient little Democrats. But we aren't so we don't.

to divide and conquer.

nobody thinks that THEY should have to be the one to make the sacrifices.
that's how they demonize labour unions
that's how they keep ramming thru tax breaks for the wealthy.

and all those people raising families on teacher's salaries-
A.CHOSE to be teachers
B.CHOSE to have a family
C.everytime they CHOOSE to go to walmart, they choose their own self-interests over the common good.

These are my choices. And yes, I choose my own self-interests over what YOU happen to think of as "the common good."

Shame on me for not agreeing with you! Shame on me for not believing every single charge in a propaganda film that has more to do with organized labor disputes than anything else. Shame on me for making my own decisions.

Yes, I chose to be a teacher and I was aware I would never be rich. Yes, I chose to have children and I choose to support my grandchildren while my son-in-law is in medical school. We work together as a family. And because I made these choices, I have to make lifestyle and purchasing choices that allow me to continue to live within my choices. And when I retire in a few years, I'll be shopping there even more because I'll have a whole lot less resources to parcel out.

Bottom line: I'm selfish. It's called survival. I'm good at it.

THAT'S saying it in a nutshell.

i'll never understand the mentality- or lack thereof- in so much of the south.

I was born and raised in New Jersey. I am a fifth generation New Jerseyite. I am as far from southern as one gets. Don't be so taken in by labels.

If I am ignorant, so be it. My opinion, however, is that you just can't handle the fact that someone doesn't agree with your talking points and doesn't tow the progressive line the way YOU think they should. When it comes down to it, it is all about you.

I would imagine if we sat and talked about our lives I would find things about yours that I also disagree with. But I have better manners than to call you ignorant.

i've lived in the u.s. long ehough to know all about the propensity of me-first idiots that abound from sea to shining sea- the repukes keep capitalizing on it, and they gladly keep letting them.

if i "couldn't handle it", i'd have done myself in long ago.

i actually find it quite amusing.

to qualify for your progressive club. Perhaps I need to rethink my political affiliation.

I guess I am just a Republican at heart. Being that I shop at WalMart and all.

You friendly T-Grannie, a Me-First Idiot




Oh, by the way, do you drive a car?

I hope you're not getting frustrated. Anyone who believes that we can live our lives without making compromises is deluded at best. We all make compromises everyday-- some are small, others are big. The point is: We all make them; some people are simply better at hiding them from others or denying them to themselves than others are.


Either way, you rock!

Attacking an entire region of the country for no reason at all. :eyes:

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/
http://walmartwatch.com/home/pages/issues
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/

It's not propaganda, and it's not about organized labor disputes. Please keep an open mind and take a look at the links I've posted. Many people don't realize how bad Walmart really is.

. . . be the sacrifice. Until everything you've spent a lifetime working to acquire--your American Dream--is damaged or destroyed by a "person" with more "rights" than yours as a mere U. S. citizen and, like an unwilling Appalachian virgin, you've been chosen to be the next one thrown into the maw of that belching, farting volcano called King Coal, perhaps you ain't yet begun to live but at least you'll die knowing, dear child, that it was all in the interest of the common good!

Do I hear a "Hallelujah! Amen, and amen!" to that?

can't understand the low-lifes who do.

- I'm looking for an electric ice cream maker. Checked Target and Sears yesterday and they didn't have any. I was told Walmart has them so I'll be checking it out ASAP.

there, it did about four hundred dollar's of damage. The store manager told them to BAG IT.
But they saved a $1.47 on there stuff.

around $50. I bought one there, it works great.

.....demands that I shop where I can get the lowest price so that my money will stretch further.

But rarely, and generally not for the prices but because it's convenient. Where else are you going to get a loaf of bread and a broadband router in the middle of the night? Where else can you get knee-high hose and bottled water at 6:00 am on your way to work?

Usually I shop Target for household stuff and a unionized grocery store for food. We also buy from farmer's markets, a feed store (they sell local eggs), and a Mennonite grocery. The unionized grocery is fairly expensive, but our the local sources are a lot less expensive than even the Super Wal-Mart.

is a bullet you buy for China to undo US, but while driving last week thru NC,SC,GA and FL, the small towns, I notice that Wally World was the only store available to the people in some of those towns for miles and miles.
There downtown areas have been decimated, of course, by Wally and the people are left with NO choice but to buy from them!

It will be up to us who are able due to our income or local resources to reduce Wally World income!

the mega malls took down Main Street a long time before WalMart.

I rarely go to the mall anymore, however.

and yet they do not pay fair wages ...I too have driven through towns with only a Wally World and it is part of the reason those areas stay depressed.

I am shocked at the amount of DUers who have.

:wow:

then I saved shopping at walmart'S. So I quit buying useless crap and shopping at walmart'S. Now I'm money ahead, I patronize the other stores, have met some good folks, and feel good about it.

The useless junk addiction is a REAL problem in this culture. (I have it too, not being judgemental, just saying it is more of a root problem than WHERE you go to buy the crap)

It is the consumption that keeps this machine running.

at heart. Oh well.

and made a bad decision.

Believe it or not there are many DUers who live on a 4 figure or barely 5 figure income. Is it necessary to be condesencing to people? It's just snobbery and elitist.

bite the bullet and do business with legitimate companies? You spend money at Mao-Mart, you enable them. Live with it.

If you knew my story you wouldn't call me snobby or elitist. So go spend your money there.....you get more than you pay for.

I just don't judge people who do. I don't think it's right to do that.

eom

I cannot remember the last time that I spent $25 or more at a Walmart, so it's safe to assume that it's been years. I usually give my business to Target and search like hell for items needed that are "Made in the USA."

that it is made in China, Hong Kong, etc. The material might have been made there, but you be surprised that most assembly was in the USA.

however.

My Dad is a mid-level executive in the textile business, manufacturing, and has been in this business since 1963. Most of the assembly of most textiles made in another country are also in that country... not the USA. Very occasionally it is -- but that "assembly" is piecework, often illegal sweatshop work. And, sometimes, all the "assembly" consists of is sewing in a tag... again, usually sweatshop work by Illegal, abused immigrants. He flies to Costa Rica 2-4 times a month, because that's where the material is made now, since all the NC plants have closed. Extremely few Americans are making one cent from this "assembly."

It makes my father sick, what has happened to his business over the decades, the jobs lost, the lies (ie Wal-Mart's "Made in the USA"), the workers being sold out, the quality being lost. He knows he's been very lucky by being an expert is some esoteric stuff/.... but he lost his pension 15 years ago.

I shop at Target a lot, too. Mostly for garden things and household items. Our Target does not have a grocery store.

In general it has a more pleasant atmosphere. And if I want food I go to the grocery store, not the Wal-Mart. However, I can't seem to get that concept through my dad's head unfortunately.

I do like Target better as far as atmosphere. Our WM is brand new so still very clean. I was disappointed when Target (also new) did not carry groceries.

I do buy a lot of stuff frozen from a delivery service. It is a huge time saver for me.

"Made in the USA" items at Target versus Walmart. Although, these days it's getting tougher and tougher to find nearly anything that is made here. Our Target has a grocery-type section (approximately 5 isles or so) if you want to call it that. Walmart's is only slightly larger.

and strip malls in between. We also have highway shopping, so there are a wide variety of stores to choose from. No reason to sully myself by entering a Wal-mart.

On edit: I don't think I spent more than $10 that day.

I was born and raised in Somerville.

I shop there even though I hate it. I think it has to do with the convenience of having all the crap I need in one place. Otherwise I just hate the whole experience. I just want to get in grab the stuff and get out. As for low prices... well if you know anything about retail... you know the fix is in... somewhere.

Even before I had proof how evil that enterprise was - the place just creeped me out on general principles. Yes, you can find everything from scoop to nuts, but at what price?
About 2 years after '99 my little family hit hard times, real hard times, real scary times - no car & barely a roof over our heads, "shopping" at the (muslim - bless them this was right after 9/11 and not looked too favorably upon) charity food pantry and whatever places were close enough to walk to or were on a bus route.
I know how hard it is to pinch those pennies and wonder sometimes where your next meal is coming from, believe me, but although there was always a Wal-Mart that I could go to I chose instead the dollar store (not much better, I know...) and the thrift store.
Wal-Mart is such a large part of the BIG problem... :(

But I went into one a couple of months ago for the first time. My mother needed a new lawn mower and someone had told her that Wal-Mart had the best prices on them. So, despite my misgivings, I went with her for a look.

We located the lawn mowers and I was stunned by the cheap, terrible construction. The entire body sans motor was a cheap lightweight plastic and you couldn't get any information anywhere on the motor, even on the box (wonder why?). The thing looked so cheap I doubt it would have lasted a single season. They wanted $240 for a front-propelled mower.

I told her to forget this crap and we went to Sears. She got a Craftsman front-propelled mower with a Briggs & Stratton engine - solidly built, no cheap flimsy plastic - for $217. And they stand behind a product such as this, whereas Wal-Mart would have given her a one-way ticket to hell had she tried to take their cheap piece of shit back.

So, Wal-Mart wasn't cheaper and the quality was terrible. I fail to see the attraction with this dump.

Walmart uses something called "opening price points" (if I recall the term correctly). They have one item in each category that's drastically underpriced. This item -- which is usually not exactly what the consumer wants -- is used to pull the consumer in and give him/her the impression that "Walmart has the lowest prices." But the rest of the items are priced higher than at the competition. Someone did a systematic study that showed that Walmart is not cheaper than other stores.

but I was asked to leave the premises.

so good not to give money to that bush loving, America hating store!

...It was probably 2000 or 2001 (I picked 2001 in the poll). When I chose to stay away from WalMart, it was a bit of an adjustment. Whenever I needed something like a watch battery, phone cord, paint brush, etc., I just automatically drove to WM. The first time that I needed a watch battery after I stopped going there, I was in a panic. Where would I get one? Of course the local drug store had them. I still haven't figured out where I can get a watch band for my Swatch, but I'd rather duct tape it to my wrist than give money to the WM folks.
I'm not rich by a long shot, and I do live paycheck to paycheck. But even if something costs a few pennies or even a few dollars more, I'd rather give my money to someone other than WM.

56% of the people think W-Mart is bad for the country......The other 44% work there....

But they are everywhere in Mexico and Mexicans love them.

maybe more...what's it like?

but not to purchase anything, I was there in an official capacity. I'm very fortunate that I have a Target within 3 miles of my house and a Costco within 6 miles. We have a family owned hardware store just down the street so Walmart is not a necessary evil.

She's a single work at home mom and needs to save every dime. I visit 4-5 times a year and we normally do a $100+ wal mart run.

Not just for the fact that I hate how they're killing small retailers.. and enriching another country at the expense of our own workers.. but man.. I HATE stores like that! No soul no windows no daylight.. that artificial air, light, and sound. Humans are not meant to be in there.. I swear.

the Wal-Mart by me is really really slow. The only reason I go there is if I need something really small and want to get it quickly and/or if the weather is bad because I can always park really close and it's easy in and out. But I don't remember ever spending more than about $15 there. I'm sure it's happened though, so I'll guess 2005.

and a mall about five minutes away, not to mention many local stores. So yeah, I never shop at WAL*MART. I don't think it's wrong, I just prefer Target and I don't seem to spend much more (If any at all) than my friends who do shop at WM.

is much more pleasant at Target, also. Target's store size is much more reassuring. (Not that I buy tons of stuff at Target, either.)
I get a feeling of dread at WalMart when I see the shelves stretch forward for what looks like miles. The store is unnaturally huge. The parking lot is also too giant.
----------------------------------------------------------

When I'm in a WalMart I get the feeling that nothing in the store is special, there's nothing that I would want. That's the main reason I haven't spent more than a few dollars there. I walk in and I get the feeling that I won't want any of it. I look around and I feel disgusted that people want to fill their homes with crap. Maybe it sounds "elitist", but I seriously wonder how much useless stuff a family needs...until they get rid of it, then it goes to the landfill and the family goes back to WalMart for some more useless stuff. If that sounds "elitist" to anyone, then I guess you think it's cool to collect useless stuff and dump it in a landfill, then get more useless stuff to replace the old.

(not you, jjrjsa)

fuck wal mart.

Easy to do, provided you only shop for groceries at a gas station. :(

Never again

So I definitely went then. But I didn't like it even then, and when I later moved to a town with a variety of places to choose from, there was no reason to go to WalMart.

It might be cheaper, but it's worth it to me to spend a little extra and not have go in that store. The lighting is bad, it's a mess, the people are sad, and of course, WalMart just isn't the kind of company I feel good giving my money to.

I've been boycotting them for 2 years now - will not be going back. I don't like the mothers screaming at their kids & destroying their egos (at least in the one near me) anyway or the fruit flies all over the fruit, so I wouldn't go there if they were better citizens, but their not so it's a grand slam for me...

:sarcasm:

It was difficult for us because we are such penny pinchers--and that was back when we had money. It is more difficult now because Mr Zola has lost his union job and we are really, really struggling, but we still won't go back:)

I've been in one, and got out as soon as I could.

Worst place on earth.

Didn't buy anything though. I knew it was a scum business but my stepmother wanted to shop there.

Wound up needing to buy one of those blood pressure cuffs at 1am- it was cheaper to confirm that my blood pressure and heart rate had fallen through the floor than to go to the ER, and be told that there was nothing wrong...

It wound up confirming previous suspicion and when I went to the ER, I was able to say that my resting heart rate was lower than 45BPM and BP was lower than 85/60.


The thing was $25 + tax, so I guess I must admit that I spent money there recently.

Before that, I don't think I'd been in Wally World in more than a couple of years.

And if they do, send them to me for some regrooving.

:hi:

mail to be delivered through the front, but not Wal Mart. We had to go around the back. ring the bell, wait for service, then we had to wait for a manager to take the mail. What used to take 15-20 seconds could take ten minutes.

Oh yeah, we used to be able to use the public restrooms, but they forbade us because we were not customers but delivery men.

what a freaking joke....

get to the other shops in the mall. I would have to deliver Wally world out of sequence so I didn't have to move my vehicle or back track.

I think the manager had an anti government agenda.

She wanted to buy something that other stores in town didn't have. I bought nothing and gave her shit about it the entire time.

:)

Not really, but I thought it would be a funny poll choice.

We used to be Sam's regular. We won't ever go back there. I will be protesting at a city council meeting about a proposed new store in a few weeks. Watch the Walmart movie or the PBS special on Walmart to get the real picture. We want a Costco, but there are none even close to us here in Omaha.

when I found myself with crates of cleaing products and or trays of strawberry yogurt...
and I thought..."why am I keeping a large inventory of products when even commercial companies employ "just-in-time" for inventory?"

I bought a 6 pack of spray starch there that took me 5 years to use...and then I was skittish because I was worried that 5 year old spray starch might not be so good anymore...

I started going there for diapers but found that once again...a giant carton of diapers is a bad idea..because babies do grow quickly at different stages...and I could get diapers just as cheap at the local grocery store with a coupon (that they doubled)...

when they mark down toys, they really mark them down! My donation dollar goes far there during their clearances. Otherwise, I'd stick with Target.

I'm always so heartened to see the progressive, generous attitides of DUers and their boundless empathy for those in different circumstances. :sarcasm:

The way I see it, you are either supporting a corrupt and destructive system, or you remove yourself from it. Its the same principle that lead Gandhi to start making his own clothes instead of products made in Britain.
I have a little sympathy for people in small towns with no other options...but only a little.

if you drive a car?

Not snarking...just curious. You sound like you are the sort who would not.

In some really small and isolated rural towns, the ONLY place to purchase some items is Wal-Mart. I share your loathing of Wal-Mart and I haven't electively purchased anything there in a long time. But I've been in some very, very small towns where literally the only option for some items is Wal-Mart. There might be a couple of Mom and Pop stores in the town, but their selection is usually really limited.

Honestly, I see condemning poor or rural people for shopping at Wal-Mart the same as condemning illegal immigrants for doing jobs for $2/hour that unemployed Americans would be happy to do- in other words, it's misplaced animosity that targets people who are, more than most people, a victim of the same system. I'm a liberal because I feel compassion for the family of five whose household income is $18,000 and for whom saving twenty or thirty bucks on groceries is the difference between paying the rent that month or getting evicted. If I wanted to scorn those people, I'd be a Republican. It's a prime example of Maslow's hierarchy of needs - people need to make sure their families can eat and have a roof over their heads before they are even going to start worrying about making political sacrifices. I'm not going to judge anyone who is trying to make ends meet.

It would be nice if everyone across the country just started boycotting Wal-Mart, but that's not going to happen until a massive change of the cultural mindset occurs, and meanwhile, I'm not going to condemn people for being less politically aware than I am.

Not to mention: I know a lot of DUers who vociferously condemn Wal-Mart shoppers have this mental image of an ignorant, white-trash, NASCAR-lovin' fundie hick family who always vote Republican, because that makes it easier to hate them (I'm certainly not speaking of you, but I've definitely seen this stereotype before). The last time I was at an urban Wal-Mart, however, most of the clientele I saw were poor minorities. I wonder if DUers would think poor black people from the projects who are shopping at Wal-Mart because they can save twenty bucks are as "disgusting" (in the words of one especially liberal fellow in this thread) as the white-trash Republican stereotype they love to hate so much?

. . . unrealistic, but wonderful nonetheless:

Until recently, I made all of my own (and my daughter's clothing) . . . as well as making items for gift-giving or selling at craft fairs. We raised our own Hereford beef (enough to keep 19 family members in beef year-round) and we milked our own Jersey cows--making our own butter, cottage cheese, ricotta, and cream cheese (for our very own New York-style cheesecake). We picked wild berries for pies, cobblers, jams and jellies . . . and, of course, homemade wine for gift-giving at Christmas. In addition to canning all of the vegetables and fruits we grew each year, we dried our own herbs, flowers, etc. In winter, we heated our house with an energy efficient coal/wood furnace (ala the Tennessee World's Fair), using wood (deadfall, mostly) from our own woodlot . . . or coal when the temperature went down below zero. Etc., etc., etc. We thought it was a good life.

In order to afford the mortgage, my husband continued to work in town as a Teamster delivery driver; and, once a week, he drove me to town to purchase the only things we really needed to buy: work uniforms, shoes, and underwear; plus such staples as coffee, tea, flour, salt, eggs (when the neighbor's chickens weren't laying), vinegar and oil, etc., etc. --and, of course, paper products, laundry products, and toiletries.

Then, in 1983, my husband's employer went bankrupt and, at 6-months short of being 57 years of age and with almost 40 years in the Teamsters, just about everything he collected in unemployment benefits was turned over to the union to keep up-to-date with his union dues, pension fund, health & welfare contributions, etc. (There were no re-training programs for a laid-off truck driver available . . . and nobody was hiring 57-year-olds who had recently undergone major cancer surgery.) If we hadn't been raising most everything that went into our mouths, it's doubtful we could have survived during the next few years.

My husband retired at 57 . . . "early", they called it . . . meaning that he's collecting a mere pittance of what he might have collected later--especially considering how many years he had in the union. There was very little choice at the time; and because of the recent cancer episode, he took the type of pension that would ensure that his "surviving spouse" would collect one-half of his pension. In other words: Until he was 62 (and took "early" Social Security--as a "notch baby", to boot!), we would have to continue robbing Peter to pay Paul when it came to utilities, the mortgage, etc. (Six thousand dollars doesn't go very far . . . especially when life-threatening health problems start kicking in.)

To add to those problems, in 1984-85, our farm was undermined and subsided by unregulated, irresponsible longwall coal-mining . . . and all of our water sources and supplies disappeared, our house and barn suffered major structural damage, and the energy efficient furnace that must sit absolutely level in order to operate properly was sitting on TILT. Naturally, you can't water livestock when there's no water in the pasture, meaning goodbye to the livestock. Eventually, the barn collapsed and the house became uninhabitable . . . and this paragraph is a whole 'nuther story, I suppose. Anyway . . . but . . .

But--hooray!--my husband found a job in 1988--part-time, 4 hours per day, no benefits--driving! And . . . would you believe it?! Dammit if some busybody didn't turn him in to the union! The union trustees notified him they were going to stop his pension and make him pay back everything they'd already paid him; etc., etc. Trouble is: He was working for a local, non-profit, United Way agency and not screwing some cockeyed, radical (sorry 'bout dat!) Teamster truck driver out of a job. He was driving a small van and taking little old ladies to lunch at a senior citizens' center, for cryinoutloud!

Oh-h, we finally got things straightened out with the union about the pension and my husband and I are grateful to have it: It almost covers our medical expenses. I doubt I'll ever forgive the union, however, for the fact that--though my husband worked under a contract guaranteeing both of us hospital and medical benefits (80%/20%) until we each reached 65 years of age and became eligible for Medicare--we had to pay 100% of the medical expenses incurred by me during a 2-week hospital stay when I was 56 years old. (It was the first time I even needed that union hospitalization/medical plan, BTW.) So . . .

After that experience, though it's getting more and more difficult for me to breathe (CHF), I've been on Medicare for almost six years. Still, when it comes to the union's agreement about my collecting one-half of my husband's pension, I won't hold my breath . . . especially not while shopping at the nearest WalMart for prescription medications, etc. . . . because it's a toss-up as to which one of us is going to kick the bucket first!

(Wow! :blush: Talk about a long-winded post!)

There is no other source in Little Rock.

as free range veal. I generally don't eat veal, having seen them in NJ farms (not an oxymoron) chained to little white huts. Kind of takes one's appetite away. Is the veal tender?

I also raise my own chickens (or did until the bird flu scare took the joy out of it) and have to dispatch of roosters regularly and while we eat them, I just never have an appetite for them. Mostly I try and give them away. The mind is a funny thing.

When I go eat at Italian restaurants with a group of my oldest and best friends it's been a standing joke with us for years to ask the waiters if the veal is "free range".

It's the only kind of veal I eat... which is why I never order veal out in a restaurant. It does cost more, of course.

Got to the beach on Saturday and realized I had forgotten my bathing suit and my youngest daughter had managed to not bring any shoes. Decided to go this one time so I could get those things and groceries at one time. NEVER AGAIN! I had to wait in line for over an hour. They only had 2 non-express lanes open. Asked the manager why they were so short handed. He said that no one ever passes their drug tests to get a job there ("Well, maybe if you guys paid more and had better benefits you might have a better selection of applicants" was my response). Anyhoo, if this ever happens again I will just go to the mall and separately to the grocery store.

The smiley face makes me frown. :(

I've forgotten why the Democratic calls itself the PRO-CHOICE party... :sarcasm:


The only pure Democrat is the one who has NEVER failed every single purity test ever thrown at DUers, and who among us is THAT pure???? Calling people low-lifes because they're too poor, or LACK CHOICES on where to shop is pretty disgusting, IMO. Yeah, we should just fill up our gas tanks and drive to another freaking state to shop at the "DU approved shop" and then fill up the gas tank again for the drive back home - who cares if our children starve because we spent every penny driving to the Polically corret REGIONAL store in your state - geesh. What if it's one of those new "Christian" stores, do we lose politically correct points then?

If my Democratic vote isn't enough for the Democrats, and I'm required to take some purity test, then let me know - otherwise I'm going to PRETEND I still live in a FREE country, and shop where I damn well feel like shopping - Kroger!

And I'll probably never be able to afford one. No, I drive the cheapest car I can find with good gas mileage, mechanically sound of course, and I insist on two things - seat belts and a working horn. To improve my gas mileage, I drive slower - I'm that idiot doing the speed limit that everyone salutes me with their middle finger! My husband keeps it tuned up, but it's still no beauty.

We once drove an old Volvo (extremely old) and every time we turned right the horn went off. Our teenaged children were humiliated. Now they talk fondly about "the old blue bucket."

The only car in America that could make a Ford Pinto look good. It was only slightly worse than the Ford Falcon, which could go into reverse without warning, whether it was running or not! The only safe place to park it was against a very, sturdy building.
I can see you all now in your horny, old Volvo - hope it wasn't the one I had. It's left rear tire passed me on the road one day...oops! :rofl:


So, looks like we flunked another DU purity test - however will we manage? You shop where?!? Hell, they only build Walmarts in the suburbs here - the RICH ones! You should see the hybrids! They're right next to the hummers - and some of them have Democratic signs on them, too. Go figure.

it was a Rambler with push button transmission!

Yes, we might have to hand in our protest signs. Perhaps we can find a Progressive Priest Person and get absolution?

just what IS a Prius, anyway?

I don't have a license. Now how GREEN is THAT, huh????

For the most part, everything about the company and its stores disgusts me.

:hi: