WalMart. Also: two hour naps make me grumpy.

[same_sky]

Does it make me a horrible person to admit that I secretly laugh at the people who talk about WalMart as if it's responsible for the decline of civilization as we know it? Sure, I'm not saying that it's not a little evil, but it doesn't escape my notice that a good many of the people who bitch about it destroying the economies of small towns and evangelize about buying things that cost more from other establishments... are people who aren't struggling to make ends meet and they sure aren't the ones that live in those small towns. I've lived in small towns and I've lived in big cities and medium-sized places, and my big point here is that shopping elsewhere is really not always as easy as they would like to pretend, so it seems to me that it's much easier to have these philosophical objections when it really doesn't affect your life, and can therefore just pass judgment on other people* for being other people.

Here's the thing. Do you buy toilet paper? Say you live in the town that I lived in for most of my life. There are 10,000 people officially living in those parts, though those numbers are really screwed up because most people don't live in city limits and then there's a college campus full of non-residents. You need toilet paper. You have your choice of grocery stores, a couple of dollar stores, or WalMart. You can't go to WalMart because you are too good boycotting it for "ethical reasons." I have honestly never heard anyone say "I hate WalMart, so I will never shop there, but I just love going to the dollar store." A large part of the anti-WalMart experience is the stigma of shopping there, and the unwashed masses that you see.. and the people in the dollar stores are probably even less socially acceptable to people like that. So let's assume that the dollar stores are also out. You really need TP, so you go to Kroger and pay a couple of dollars more. Fine. Now multiply toilet paper by paper towels by diapers by ziplock bags by dishes by light bulbs, and remember that the average living wage in said small town is going to be smaller than in a larger city. After all, I am not living there right now entirely because of the lack of jobs. So where am I supposed to find all this extra money to voluntarily pay more money for everything I buy? And what of things that aren't toilet paper, like say, craft supplies, or a new television, or mixing bowls, or a blender? If WalMart doesn't have it, you cannot buy it in town. What about Christmas decorations, or Halloween costumes, or toys?

Of course, you do have other options. I mean, if you feel that Target's business practices are superior, you could shop there. Of course, you'll have to drive 130 miles to get there and back. Or Meijer. (Speaking of Meijer... no one has a problem saying the silent-type J in Meijer. Why not in... the same word but with a G at the beginning? I mean, they would still be mis-pronouncing it but it would at least be closer.) The problem is that then it takes at least three hours to do your shopping and you are now also spending a lot of money in gas ($15) to go to a place where you can pay more, and doesn't that sort of exploit the environment? And then, these places are also nationwide chains, and therefore you can't really use the "support local merchants" argument anymore?

And speaking of Target. I enjoy browsing at Target now and then when we're in an actual city (which is a 60 mile round trip from here) but I just do not get the Target love that I see in the blogosphere. What is it? What am I missing? I love the design of some of the Michael Graves stuff but have learned from experience that it totally falls apart due to crappy quality. Other than that, it seems to me that you pay more for the same stuff. But then again, you don't find Targets in small town (that I've seen) so perhaps there's the disparity between one's finances and one's inclination to get on one's high horse about where people who are pretty much just trying to get by with what they have.

But hey, I guess you could just buy your toilet paper at the little Mom-and-Pop gas station down the road in your small town. Of course, they buy it at WalMart, but who's counting?

*This post brought to you by the reading of a random blog posting that seriously suggested that shopping at WalMart is at least borderline treason.

Comments

[carrieb.livejournal.com]

I hate Wal-mart. It's the only place I shop when I go to my hometown because it is either there or pay a shitload extra for the nice store. Plus it is pretty clean. The Wal-mart here in Germantown is filthy and disorganized and overcrowded, thus I love Target because it is clean and has wide aisles. Really though, I don't quite get the Target love either. I mean, it's a store. I go there and buy things like diapers and picture frames, but other stuff from there falls apart. Half the time they don't even have the big ticket items in stock that I would like to buy (we tried buying a convertible carseat from there last weekend and no one would help us so we left. . . I looked it up online and ended up getting it cheaper with no sales tax or shipping). Anyway, I think it is totally true that those who can afford to hate Wal-mart aren't the people who Wal-mart is helping. I dislike their business practices from what I understand of them, but those business practices help a lot of families have more food on their table than they would otherwise.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Yeah.. but there's a difference in disliking WalMart because you dislike shopping there and all the things I mentioned. And of course, some of that is dependent upon which location you have because both of the WalMarts I think of as mine are pretty clean and organized. Besides that, I don't know a whole lot about the business practices of WalMart or any other store.. but I'm pretty sure that the way the others operate isn't all happiness and love, either, so I find it a little hard to worry about it too much. :)

[mamakoolaid.livejournal.com]

I don't know what is wrong with Wal-Mart.... guess I'm in the dark on that one!

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

You're not missing much. It's generally pretty much the things I said plus the feeling that it has shady business practices and does not treat its employees fairly, etc. You could Google it but I wouldn't waste my time if I were you. :)

[queensheba.livejournal.com]

*applause*

I don't get why it's all the rage to bash Wal-Mart, but none of the other superstores. Yes, Wal-Mart can be unpleasant. Yes, the customers can be annoying. Yes, it does put pressure on small-town business owners. So would a Target or a Meijer if it came to your town.

I've known holier-than-thou folks who are too noble to shop at Wal-Mart, but Sam's Club is okay, because they have to buy their camping supplies SOMEWHERE. Or they're too cool to shop at Wal-Mart until they decide they're poor starving struggling students, and then they're FORCED to shop there, and don't we understand their plight? cut me a break.

[patsyterrell.livejournal.com]

We have a Target and a K-mart, as well as Wal-mart. What people never seem to grasp is that WalMart is just better at being in business than the others - if Target could be as predatory, they would be. It is capitalism in action. Walmart has just been better at it than anyone else. And, frankly, I like being able to buy a screwdriver, toilet paper and apples all in one trip.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

That part about screwdrivers, toilet paper and apples is something M suggested that I should have added but it was late and I didn't feel like editing it any further. It takes a lot of time if you go to a different store for every single item on your list. People pay for convenience in stupider stuff (I am thinking of electronic dish brushes here so I hope that no one who reads this has one) so why not in a place where it actually will save a lot of time?

[stewlis.livejournal.com]

That was the thought I had when I started reading this entry...the thing about not having to go to several stores to get things you could get all in one trip. I miss that. Here, we have to go to the commissary for food items (though they do have TP, cat food, and light bulbs), to the exchange for electronics, to the depot for office supplies and miscellaneous, or out in town to a grocery store and Nafco (think Home Depot on steroids) and I was so much more content to go to wal-mart and have one-stop shopping. Especially on particularly hypo days when I have so little energy to spare in the first place. Going to more than one store, finding another parking space, waiting in more than one check-out line, wasted a lot of precious energy and time. I like Wal-Mart, though I've been known to say I hate it due to the sheer volume of people there at times and lack of parking, but that was just the Jacksonville store. We had a K-Mart which sucked there and a Target which I shopped at and paid more at for the few months following the car wreck when I was anti-traffic (still am, but mute point) but their stuff wasn't as good, which was why the store was less crowded. Anyway I'm not saying anything that hadn't been said so I'll quit now. Just... well, Hi! :) lol

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Exactly! It's just fashionable to bash WalMart. I really don't get it. It's not like it's my favorite place in the world but it sure isn't Pure Evil and I'm not ashamed to tell people that I shop there by any means.

[patsyterrell.livejournal.com]

I shop at Wal-mart and I'm not embarrassed by it. I'm a big supporter of local businesses, but if I need toilet paper at 11 p.m. I'm going to Walmart. And I see no point in paying more for things I need. Nor do I find that the local spots are nearly as superior as people would have you believe. I just bought two plantains at Walmart tonight. I can imagine the blank stares I would get at the local market asking for plantains. I don't have the time to go to a dozen different places to do my shopping and I don't have the excess income to give extra money to everyone for the same product. Until someone wants to provide me with a luxurious living, without me having to spend time working, convenience counts for me. And I'm freaking fed up with people who blather on about how they don't shop at Walmart that I keep running into in the store.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. If someone wants to pay me enough to not work in exchange for not shopping at WalMart, I am totally on board for that. ;)

[courtesy.livejournal.com]

I think I'd quite enjoy shopping at WalMart, even though I never have.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

I tell you what. If you ever make it over for a visit, I will totally take you to WalMart. It's open 24 hours a day!

[e11en.livejournal.com]

Like Carrie, I prefer Target because ours is clean, well-lit, nicely laid out whereas every last Wal-Mart in my area is dirty, gray, and crap is just randomly shoved everywhere. I went to two Wal-Marts last week looking for something I never did find (paper ice cream cups) and I went there because two people told me they had seen them there. A woman there tried to help me but didn't have a clue where I should look.

I believe the reason people hate and/or boycott Wal-mart has to do with their shady hiring practices (of illegal immigrants) and bullying tactics (threatening employees who try to unionize, etc.) and policies (have lots of part time employees who work just one hour shy of full time so they don't have to pay for benefits). But I don't pay really close attention and couldn't supply you with any links to stories about it.

For myself, I'm not too proud to shop at Wal-Mart but it isn't a whole lot closer than Target so depending on what I am trying to buy, chances are I'll try my local grocery store or Target first and only go to Wal-Mart as a last resort. While I'm there, I'll probably pick up something else that I see which I would normally buy but pay a little more for at the grocery store.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

I think it just irritates me when I hear people speaking as if it's the worst thing in the world for someone to go to WalMart when they have no idea what life is like in places where WalMart is the only real option.. and often, they cite the economies of those very places in their arguments. I think it's kind of hypocritical.. which isn't to say that I'm a devoted WalMart fan. It just bugs me. ;)

[kapuhi.livejournal.com]

I've been rich and I've been poor. And when you're poor, you shop at the place you can afford. Darn right I'm going to Walmart with the rest of the poor. Their shady business practices mean a better value for my time and money, and I don't have the luxury of worrying about others who are oppressed by Walmart.. I'm trying to survive my own oppression.

It's capitalism. It's Have v Have-nots. I'd rather be a Have. :) If shopping at Walmart will help me save money, making me more likely to BE a Have someday, so be it.

People who rail about corporate practices yet live in the the country that uses the most resources per person of any nation in the world really burn my toes. If you want to be productive, try mentoring someone. Try teaching kids about energy conservation. Don't pick on the poor for being poor. We will eat you.

[kapuhi.livejournal.com]

P.S. Awesome layout, I'm in love. :)

[kapuhi.livejournal.com]

P.P.S. holy shit, I'm old enough to have been rich AND poor. I need some grandkids to lay down the truth to.