The Wal-Mart Problem

[Guyute]

While I feel that we are authors of our own demise when we buy goods from companies who buy from China (the country that uses slave prison labor), my biggest problem with Wal-Mart is the front of the store-
they NEVER HAVE ANY GEE-DEE CASHIERS WORKING!!!!!

If I go in there at any time I guarantee that there are never more than 3 cashes open. There are 40-50 people waiting to be rung through, and right over their heads is a big banner proclaiming "WAL-MART CARES ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!" Sheeit, I'd hate to see how I'd be treated if they DIDN'T care. I have been getting seriously sick of giving Wal-Mart money when they are too arrogant to even put enough cashiers out to effectively serve a busy day.
The sad thing is, that when Colgate toothpaste is 25% cheaper than the local chainstore, I unfortunately don't make enough money to justify throwing away 25% of it. But then I wait 3 times longer to pay...hmmm how much is my time worth?
Interestingly, I hear that a town in New Brunswick is blocking a Wal-Mart from opening... Rothesay, I believe???

[wolf]

Mari, you're not really one to speak about what one can and cannot do on $9 an hour, since your existance is totally funded by taxpayers and sympathetic donations accrued as a consequence of maudlin newspaper articles.

Originally Posted by wolf

Mari, you're not really one to speak about what one can and cannot do on $9 an hour, since your existance is totally funded by taxpayers and sympathetic donations accrued as a consequence of maudlin newspaper articles.

Wolf, you are not really one to speak to my personal situation since you are going by information that is two years old. I feel no special need to either justify or explain my current situation to you, other than to note that time passes and things change and you are incorrect. :p

[wolf]

And another thing ... your argument regarding the $9/hr worker being below the poverty line is incorrect. If you kick that up to a single wage earner for a dependent family of four, yes, that's below the established poverty line. Employ a second family member, even part time, and they're over.

Poverty line for a SINGLE WORKER under age $65 is $9827. $18720/yr is just under twice that. If you're going to use numbers, use 'em straight.

(source)

Originally Posted by wolf

And another thing ... your argument regarding the $9/hr worker being below the poverty line is incorrect. If you kick that up to a single wage earner for a dependent family of four, yes, that's below the established poverty line. Employ a second family member, even part time, and they're over.

Poverty line for a SINGLE WORKER under age $65 is $9827. $18720/yr is just under twice that. If you're going to use numbers, use 'em straight.

(source)

Forgot to secure the laptop before going on break again, eh Wolf?

Originally Posted by Wolf
[Marichiko lies and cheats]

Originally Posted by Marichiko

And, BTW, $9.00/hour puts a family of 4 well below the Federal poverty guidelines.

Originally Posted by Marichiko

Actually $9.00/hr works out to $17, 280. Federal poverty guidelines for 2006 for a family of 4 are $20,000.00/year or less BEFORE taxes. You were saying about pulling something out of your ass?

Since you object to the numbers from the Federal Register, would you please suggest a publication more to your liking? And Rush Limbaugh transcripts don't count.

[imprint]

it feels GREAT to be back in atlanta, again! wow, did I miss a lot while I was away!

here is the deal, guys. wal-mart is intended to supply high schoolers and college students with jobs during the summer. do you remember when you used to do that? bag boy, register operator, stocking shelves, the whole deal. you got paid little, you worked long hours, and you felt good for it years later. America needs wal-mart and America needs wal-mart with cheap labor. how else is a family of three, four, five, or more supposed to make ends meet? the solution is simple: wal-mart offers low prices thanks to low labor and the fact that they don't have to offer health insurance.

I crack up when I walk into my lawrenceville wal-mart and find people over the age of 18 working there. do you understand why these people are working there? wait for it.

they
can't
do
anything
else.

and it is their own doing, their own fault. they could have gotten an education, they could have made something of themselves in this world, they could have gone to college. instead they find themselves playing the part of the cart greeter, the job originally reserved for that 16 year old looking to make payments on a used camero. those of us that work hard once had one of these jobs. the difference is that those of us that continued to work hard will never hold one like it again. in the meantime, I hope wal-mart never offers health insurance to these people, because that would mean that all of the large families that use wal-marts low low prices will end up taking the hit. my family is not large and I love shopping there. where else can you fill an entire suv full of groceries and pay so little? we NEED this business, people!

wal-mart isnt cheating the people. it is the people and the government that is trying to cheat a well thought-out business. to the people that cry for free health care: WORK HARD, GET AN EDUCATION. anyone is this great country of ours can do it! we all have this beautiful system to thank for where we are today!

Imprint, your arrogance is as unearned as it is unattractive. Why don't you go pull the wings off some flies and stop interrupting adult conversations?

Amazingly, if Wal-Mart were a country it would be China's seventh-largest export market, ahead of Germany and Great Britain

Walmart

[wolf]

Originally Posted by marichiko

Imprint, your arrogance is as unearned as it is unattractive. Why don't you go pull the wings off some flies and stop interrupting adult conversations?

Pot calling the Kettle black again, I see.

[Aliantha]

Perhaps in some alternate universe, there are stores like Walmart who only employ 16yr olds paying off their first car, but I think in todays society, in the universe we currently inhabit, the requirement for people of mature age to hold jobs in stores like these, is becomming more prevalent.

Not everyone has the same opportunities in life and therefore the outcomes of every individual are going to be different. Why should anyone feel the need to persecute any store or any other business even, for employing older people? Would you rather have that older person, who for whatever reason finds themselves working at Walmart; be on unemployment benefits instead?

I guess the system is different here, but it's becomming more and more like that of the US every day (much in part due to our current government), so I think it's important to consider that it's better to have people employed and be glad that they are, rather than tell them to be ashamed because they didn't make the choices you think they should have as a youth.

I think there are a lot more issues which have been stated previously in this thread which are far more valid to this argument.

[wolf]

One of the unique things about Walmart is that they will employ everybody, regardless of age ... from 16 year old stockers, to that cranky little old lady greeter with osteoporosis who shoves carts at me when I enter the store. They are pretty diverse in terms of demographic, as far as I can tell.

They do seem to be a little light on retards, but perhaps locally we have enough supermarkets and McDonalds.

[Aliantha]

Do you mean that you think people who work at McDonalds or local supermarkets are retards? BTW...how do you define retard?

[wolf]

Person with an IQ below 70. Technical definition. It's almost a cliche here in the U.S. that those two types of businesses always hire persons with developmental disabilties. I actually think it's a very good thing.

[Aliantha]

Do they do that on purpose? That is, do they recognize these deficiencies, or is 'retard' just the lable given to people with less than average IQ? Meaning, is it a derogatory term?

It's not the same here. Most of the people employed by McDonalds ARE in fact junior wage earners and generally of at least average intelligence.

[wolf]

To refer to the mentally retarded as "retards" is generally pejorative. To do so fit the tone of my post.

What you are saying of McDonalds is indeed true here in the United States. Fast-food is very often a first job for folks with no experience who are still in high school. You need to be a little sharper on the uptake to work the fryer. As a means of confidence building and mainstreaming for the individuals, and as a big public relations move for the employer, the mentally retarded are often hired by such organizations. They even have very nice television commercials to highlight this that bring a tear to your eye.