anybody else not shop at walmart?

i've seen a lot of references to walmart here, and i recognize that they are cheap and all, but my little socially-aware conscience refuses to shop there. am i the only one? please tell me there are more of you out there...

If only it were that easy, STL girl...

I found this quote ironic:
" it's rude to me people who protest stores without knowing anything about them...." 
 For fmjess - This is a synopsis of the many facts I was well aware of when I made a decision to boycott Wal-Mart. 

Oh and by the way, I went to a Planned Parenthood meeting on the morning after pill controversy, where they announced that Wal-Mart refuses to stock the Morning After Pill.  I later called my local Wal-Mart, they do not carry the morning after pill.

why isnt it that easy Heather?  I've left jobs before because I didnt like them...

Well, in many small towns, Wal-Mart has moved in and driven out all other business. So if you are only qualified to work retail, and have little other experience, and Wal-Mart is the only retail employer in your town, what do you suggest people should do?

I guess they do have a choice. They could go on welfare, or go hungry.

 

Heather you dont have to be sarcastic... I dont advise anyone to use welfare or go hungry... but I'm sorry.. if its THAT bad, then how come its not changing? 

i dont follow any of their politics... so I dont know everything...   but we all have our problems... and sometimes its just the luck of the draw.

Well, like someone said ealier, we vote with our dollars. Heather - your poor mom!

STL girl, I'm not being sarcastic. That is the choice in some towns. If you really want to be aware of what's going on around you, then maybe you should do some of your own investigations. It's bad, and not changing, because people (like you, who just don't care) still shop there. Also, there is the issue that once a Wal-Mart takes over the town, and there is no where else to shop, Wal-Mart gives it's (underpaid) employees a 15% discount on goods in the store. Those employees are definitely shopping at Wal-Mart because they can't afford to get their Ramen elsewhere to survive.

Thanks, CS. It was heartbreaking to see my sweet mother come home at night covered in dirt and grease, unable to do anything but shower and crawl into bed. If people say it's not that bad, I suggest they work there for a few years, and see if they change their tune.

"only qualified to work retail"

Get some skills. 

Heather, my mistake I read it wrong.  Thanks for explaining..  And yes youre right, I just dont care.   I guess because I have other problems in my life than to worry about someone who's working at WalMart.  I need to worry about my own job, and bettering myself to get the skills I need to get a better job. 

And that's why the world is going to **** and nothing is changing... is an all around lack of empathy and compassion in the world. The majority is simply occupied with their own. Some people aren't in the position where they can make sacrifices to better the world, but everyone who can make some kind of compromise, no matter how great or small, should do it.

jayd - that may be true, however, there are also a huge amount of people who ARENT concerned with their own, and concerned with other things when they should mind their own.. ya know?

although, thats a whole other debate.... :)

Absolutely... they're both unattractive traits that are all too common. :)

Chears, Jayd. I agree.

It's about choices. I lived below the poverty line in college. I didn't have new clothes or gadgets. I didn't even have cable -- just bunny ears on my 15 year old TV set. And never once did I HAVE to shop at Wal-Mart. Save .15 on toilet paper or cut back in other areas? The price we pay at Wal-Mart is so low because other people are paying for it with their health and happiness.

It's about priorities. Should I buy two drinks at the club this weekend or spend $15 extra on my groceries so I can make the socially concious choice?

As for me, and my boyfriend, we do what we can to make the world a better place.

I know there are a lot of people, especially in larger cities, that boycott Walmart. But since they've taken over the small towns and people there have no alternatives, is what we're doing going to have any effect?

I work with a couple of big-box stores. They had begun to pull Walmart practices (be the only buyer then drive down the cost), but a couple of retailers in the same industry moved in from the States and the competition allowed suppliers to say, "what, no more business with you? That's fine. I'll just redistribute my supply to two of your competitors."

But the arrival of Target hasn't helped with the anti-Walmart cause any. In Canada, Zellers is not a viable competitor to Walmart anymore cause, well, they suck.

UNIONIZE. That's what you have to do.

And to whoever said they didn't care about others, I think that person's lack of empathy is really lazy and pathetic. You're at the age where you choose your own ignorance. Sometimes the harder thing to do is the right thing. We don't do this because it's trendy or cool - it's because it makes other's lives better.

csthomas - if you're referring to me... I never said that I didnt care about others.  I said, I didnt care about WalMarts politics and practices.  Nothing I do or say is going to change the way Walmart treats their employees.  I simply said, if you dont like your job, then find a new one.   But, never did I say that I didnt care about anyone else.

CS, Wal-Mart won't let them unionize. In Canada, one store was thisclose to going union and they shut down the store and opened a new one down the road with completely different people. I guess stealing a new store (see my previous post about construction contracts) was cheaper than going union.

STL, You say you don't care about those employees every time you buy from Wal-Mart. Quit blaming the workers for the situation, start blaming the company. You support Wal-Mart's treatment of their workers every time you buy from them. If enough people quit shopping there, then things will have to change.

point taken Heather, HOWEVER it'll never change if they're in small towns and thats all there is... right?

If people don't shop there, they have to shop somewhere...and then the Mom and Pop stores will thrive, and the local economy will rebound.