What's wrong with Wal-Mart?

I was at the Military exchange the other day buying a t-shirt. As I strolled up to the check out, two of the Army and Air Force Exchange System’s (AAFES) finest were deep in conversation about how bad AAFES was as an employer. On and on they went as I stood there with my one purchase. Finally one of the complainers broke away from the discussion long enough to notice me and stumble through the check out process while still complaining with her co-worker.

Sick of the whole discussion, I interjected, “When did you two get drafted?” All I got were two “deer in the head lights” looks. I followed up, “You volunteered right? Nobody is forcing you to work here right?” “Well this is Germany and my German ain’t so good” complained the overweight man leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee. “How long have you been here?” I asked him. The man sensing a set up moved on to compare AAFES to Wal-Mart. “They’re just like Wal-Mart, all they care about is profit” he whined. “That’s ridiculous" I pointed out that AAFES’ profit is limited by law and even that bit of profit has to be turned back to the services in the form of Moral Welfare Recreation.”

Hammered again by his own ignorance the doof continued, “I’m talking about the way they treat people. It’s just like Wal-Mart.” “Oh that Wal-Mart." I laughed, "You mean the largest employer and retailer in America. All they do is offer people everything they want at the lowest possible price. That Wal-Mart?” “Well they don’t treat their people very good” the man continued to complain. The woman, seeing where the conversation was going, had stopped talking by now. I asked “Well how can Wal-Mart be the largest employer in America if they don’t treat their people very well?” “There ain’t no other jobs” the man stated with certainty. "Nonsense" I told him “unemployment is less than 5%, which is near capacity. It would follow that there are plenty of jobs for people who want to work.”

My t-shirt paid for and bagged, my points made, I left the two employees of the month with following thought, “Take control of your lives. If you’re not happy working here, get another job. But you shouldn’t be trashing your employer in front of the customers.”

I thought this experience was just another of those little oddities in life until I ran across this, “’Wal-Mart is the poster child for the worst in corporate behavior,’ U.S. director Robert Greenwald said in an interview after his film, ‘Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price’, screened to a large and appreciative audience.”

Because Wal-Mart is a large successful, non-union American company it is being targeted for destruction by anti-American, anti-capitalist dopes like Robert Greenwald. If successful the only thing that will be accomplished by Greenwald and company will be that the very people they purport to champion – the little guy - will have to pay more for the things that they need. If you don't like Wal-Mart, the answer is simple, don't work or shop there.