Where does one begin when creating a post about Wal-Mart? I guess I will start with questions that seemed to go unanswered and pose them to you my readers. When Mr. Walton opened the original store almost 75 years ago, his mission seemed simple enough. He wanted to sell more goods at a cheaper cost in order to drive sales in his store up. Seemed like a win win for all parties. Well, then again there is the exception of the employees that were paid pennies to work; were expected to work over time without pay and to do it all without complaining.
Employees worked there because they had no choice. Many employees o Wal-Mart are women trying to keep food on the plates of their family, a roof over their heads and heat in their homes. It is a gross injustice that this company has managed to repress people as long as it has because people feel as if there is no other alternative. They are not educated enough to get skilled labor jobs, they live in rural areas, they may not even know any better. How can a company not be forced to pay minimum wage? Isn't that what is meant for, to ensure that all people have at least an "even playing field" in the workforce?
Wal-Mart's company policy "if you want to take care of the customers you have to make sure you're taking care of the people in stores" is an absolute joke. The people are being treated as if they are second class citizens, not being paid fairly, not being able to make an honest living, not being able to support their families even if they are working forth hours per week, and to top if off they don't even have the ability to obtain health benefits due to the fact that hourly wages are so petty.
Shopping for me at Wal-Mart is always a double edged sword. I feel like I am patronizing a store in order to be treated poorly. It is a very weird dynamic. Sure, you could possibly save a few bucks and in this economy every little bit helps, however at the register shouldn't the person that is greeting me be doing it with a smile? Black Friday you will not find me within a five mile radius of a Wal-Mart. They are known for their shady sales (where they have one item of the most popular toys out there and use that to drive the masses to their store). It is absolute mayhem with people going as far as to camp out for hours, missing holiday time with their family in order to save money. At the end of the day your family wants family time, the gifts under a tree don't mean anything without family.
I agree with everything you said in your post. I especially loved your last paragraph, where you brought up the point of how people missed family time to camp out in order to be early for Black Friday. It's a really good point, as people are sort of missing the point of the holidays if they don't spend time with their families. Getting good deals on presents is nice, but the coolest part about the holidays for me are my parents getting off work so they can spend the day with me. Nice to know you have such good family values. :)
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your comment about taking time away from families to shop on black Fridays. I have also noticed that within the last few years, the stigma of black Friday has gotten even worse. Now companies are extending their black Friday hours into Thanksgiving day so that people have even more time to shop and save. Unfortunately what these stores are also doing is pulling their employees away from their own families longer depriving them from any holiday at all. I have never shopped at a store on black Friday, I avoid them at all cost, taking the time to stay home and enjoy my family. Presents will never be that important to me and I don't want my children to feel that way about them either. I would rather have less stuff and more time with the people I love.
ReplyDeleteI don't leave my house on Black Friday- that's the day I Christmas my house! Really, though, the fact that it's WalMart aside- any store that I shop in that treats me as a customer poorly is a store I don't go into anymore. I went on a yarn crawl (like a bar crawl, but with less booze and more yarn) in Manhattan once, and the first shop was Seaport Yarns downtown near WTC. The shop owner was so grumpy, and treated me like I was inconveniencing her... I left without making any purchases at all, and all the times I've been back to NYC and gone yarn shopping, it's never been back to see her. Adding the fact that it's WalMart into the mix makes it even worse. Stupid Walmart.
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ReplyDeleteBecause I cannot figure out how to edit the original blog, this will have to do:
ReplyDeleteWhere does one begin when creating a post about Wal-Mart? I guess I will start with questions that seemed to go unanswered and pose them to you my readers. When Mr. Walton opened the original store almost 75 years ago, his mission seemed simple enough. He wanted to sell more goods at a cheaper cost in order to drive sales in his store up. Seemed like a win-win for all parties. Well, then again there is the exception of the employees that were paid pennies to work; were expected to work over time without pay and to do it all without complaining.
Employees worked there because they had no choice. Many employees at Wal-Mart are women trying to keep food on the plates of their family, a roof over their heads and heat in their homes. It is a gross injustice that this company has managed to repress people as long as it has because people feel as if there is no other alternative. They are not educated enough to get skilled labor jobs, they live in rural areas, they may not even know any better. How can a company not be forced to pay minimum wage? Isn't that what is meant for, to ensure that all people have at least an "even playing field" in the workforce?
Wal-Mart's company policy "if you want to take care of the customers you have to make sure you're taking care of the people in stores" is an absolute joke. The people are being treated as if they are second class citizens, not being paid fairly, not being able to make an honest living, not being able to support their families even if they are working forth hours per week, and to top it off they don't even have the ability to obtain health benefits due to the fact that hourly wages are so petty.
Shopping for me at Wal-Mart is always a double edged sword. I feel like I am patronizing a store in order to be treated poorly. It is a very weird dynamic. Sure, you could possibly save a few bucks and in this economy every little bit helps, however at the register shouldn't the person that is greeting me be doing it with a smile? Black Friday you will not find me within a five mile radius of a Wal-Mart. They are known for their shady sales (where they have one item of the most popular toys out there and use that to drive the masses to their store). It is absolute mayhem with people going as far as to camp out for hours, missing holiday time with their family in order to save money. At the end of the day your family wants family time, the gifts under a tree don't mean anything without family.