Stick it to the man!
i was sprawl-mart today to pic up a few items: tuna (albacore, of course), salsa (black bean and corn), t-shirts (fruit of the loom only), and bullets (9mm luger)... ya know, the regular. as i was walking outside back to my car with my just purchased bountiful booty of eating, wearing, and shooting goodness, i saw two just post-pubescent teens filling the back of thier chevy nova with bags of firewood, ice cream, and 3.2 beer.
i gave 'em the obligatory polite head nod and walked off without much of thought.
not thirty seconds later i heard one of them yell at the top of his voice, 'wal-mart is a conspiracy!' as he threw a defiant fist into the air.
i think what he was getting at was that he thought wal-mart was an evil corporation focused on sticking it to the little guy, only, he did say 'conspiracy,' so for all i know he actually did mean that sam walton was anti-christ or that he was an alien or something, i don't know, i'm not him... my assumption is that he doesn't really know what conspiracy means, but whatever.
the point however, is that at first i thought to myself 'arg, what a bunch of attention seeking, skater-posers looking to get a laugh or at least a look from a passer by... weak.'
but then, as i saw them drive the entire length of the front walk of wal-mark while laying on the horn, flicking off the store and cussing, i began thinking that at least they were man enough to not only admit that wal-mart had 'em by the balls, but it pissed 'em off, and they don't care who knows...
it was then that i realized that wal-mart had me by the balls too, but i'm so anesthetized and dazed by thier dirt-cheap prices that i don't even think about it, let alone do something about it...
so, with that said, i'm going to stop shopping at wal-mart for the next month and see how it goes...
who's with me?
i gave 'em the obligatory polite head nod and walked off without much of thought.
not thirty seconds later i heard one of them yell at the top of his voice, 'wal-mart is a conspiracy!' as he threw a defiant fist into the air.
i think what he was getting at was that he thought wal-mart was an evil corporation focused on sticking it to the little guy, only, he did say 'conspiracy,' so for all i know he actually did mean that sam walton was anti-christ or that he was an alien or something, i don't know, i'm not him... my assumption is that he doesn't really know what conspiracy means, but whatever.
the point however, is that at first i thought to myself 'arg, what a bunch of attention seeking, skater-posers looking to get a laugh or at least a look from a passer by... weak.'
but then, as i saw them drive the entire length of the front walk of wal-mark while laying on the horn, flicking off the store and cussing, i began thinking that at least they were man enough to not only admit that wal-mart had 'em by the balls, but it pissed 'em off, and they don't care who knows...
it was then that i realized that wal-mart had me by the balls too, but i'm so anesthetized and dazed by thier dirt-cheap prices that i don't even think about it, let alone do something about it...
so, with that said, i'm going to stop shopping at wal-mart for the next month and see how it goes...
who's with me?
posted by Lord Milton Pepperbottom III at 1:17 PM
5 Comments:
If you don't shop at Walmart, then where? K-mart, Target, Pay-less shoes!? It seems that big-business is a well oiled machine that always has another "man" to step up after we, the consumer hoard, "stick it to the man." And if you just shop at mom and pop shops, they are getting their stock from other "the mans" so we find ourselves being turned right back out by the big business pimps. And we say "man", but I have come to believe that it is all run by "the woman." I am not sure who, but it could very likely be Star Jones.
No my friend, we need to go further than end the relationship with our Wal-mart pimp master, we need to go pre-industrial. I would recommend starting out by using thrown out plastic bags from grocery stores as a sort of diaper underwear hybrid. No more fruit of the loom.
But all this big business ranting is making me a little tired and thirsty. Let's get together for a Starbucks.
I'm in jed, I will no longer shop at wal-mart!
........................................................................................... ok well, I'm off to wal-mart.
shooot no I can't go there, but the deals are so great!
ok I give, I will shop from the man, so my wallet stays full of cash.
I will be a neighbor to a spanking new Wal-Mart in a few weeks. I will occasionally shop there, but would rather shop at a Cub or a lesser man for my food, and thrift stores for my threads. Go new on the drawers. Those plastic bags chafe something fierce. I've got a rash..... never mind.
Here's what I think about these huge businesses - It is inevitable that businesses get bigger because of technology and efficient infrastructures, etc. One thing that is good to consider is where the wealth is going. We have Wal-Mart that siphons money from all parts of the country with little investment in these communites other that providing a few low paying jobs. The profits go to the few who are in charge and are not truly re-invested in these communities. Sure, Wal-Mart throws token dollars back to the communities, but they are no charity. The result of this trend? I think our large middle class, which is the envy of the world, will eventually dwindle creating a shift of power and wealth to a few elite. We should shop more at regional or state "men" so profits will be re-invested in or near the communities where they are earned.
Here is a fun fact: The second largest employer in West Virginia is Wal-Mart, second only to state jobs.
Anyway, what is the difference between regular tuna and this albacore you speak of, Jeck?
Well, I have to agree with Haase that Walmart has the effect of absorbing the wealth from communities and moving it into the pockets of wealthy individuals. Hopefully, they will inturn spend the money on things they want, simply moving the money around the country. However, that is pretty unlikely and what is probably going to happen is that Walmart will wow poorer people with their amazing deals into purchasing more than they needed. This will cause a higher level of poverty in their local communities. Two things that need to be noted are: the wealthy probably will not suffer from shopping at Walmart, so this is probably only a concern for the poorer customers (like myself), and Walmart offers unnecessary items (decorations, food processors, guns, car decor, etc.) at a price that people, who could or would never buy these items, can afford, thus our greedy nature as humanbeings encourages people to purchase the new cool things we "deserve" and/or "want" without even considering that there can be negative consequences to our actions (quickly: we spend beyond our means). However, I don't think that boycotting Walmart or giving it the bird from the widow of my car will help the situation. I would like to throw out on the table the idea to invest yourselves into the communities. Pray and care about people. Walmart will not be the ruin of cities it will simply be the burden of life. Trying to survive in this world is lonely and hard when you go-it-alone. Walmart will take your money, people will over purchase, government cannot solve our problem, and you will be left in your own misery, ranting and raving. We are all left with the same question: what's the point?
Anonymously,
Will
thank you all for your comments! i would say i'm pretty close to haase on this one... tim, i think you are correct that only a grass roots movement can stick it to the man in a gross fashion, only i would say that regardless of of a movements 'grass root-ness' the change is still affected by the singality of the individual. it might take longer to see a positive change within the man by boycotting, but i still believe that until we recognize that change begins with us, nothing is going to change. and to will, i would wholeheartedly agree that investing in the community is the parmount way for positive change, amen to that! only, if we are to work within the system to change it, we need to be wholistic in our ministry... ie, not only public service, but on our end, we need to stop helping the thing thats only job is to counter the community work we are in fact doing. and to haase, yeah guy, totally, i think that even if we begin to shop at 'lesser' men, that is a terrific begining! anywho, im off. i love you all!
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