On shopping at Wal-Mart

For Christmas, I was given a gift card for Wal-Mart and while I certainly, absolutely appreciate the thought and gift, after having gone there this evening to get some mecessities (read:  commodities), I want to note some things that come to mind, having done so:

1)  I don't know how anyone can stand it.  I don't know how anyone can stand Wal-Mart and I don't know how anyone can stand the experience.  On being there, I feel not just cheap but downright dirty.  The place is beyond unattractive and, worse, I really do come away feeling as though I've sold out my fellow man and woman, all so I could get cheap stuff at cheap prices.  Ugh.  It just makes for a really vile experience;

2)  I don't know how people could then go back and do it again and again, only to save a buck;

3)  Target doesn't feel dirty.  Or cheap;

4)  Costco doesn't feel dirty or cheap either;

5)  Dollar General doesn't even feel dirty or cheap (and some things I purchased last evening were less expensive at Dollar General);

6)  If you're a Walton, wouldn't you feel dirty and/or cheap (hopefully both), if not already, then eventually and sooner than later?  Can you imagine being beholden to the company that is known for being the cheapest on the planet, even if it is for a fortune?  A huge fortune, at that?  How disgusting.

Added to it is the fact that 4--count 'em, four--of the top ten wealthiest Americans are Waltons, too.  (http://www.forbes.com/wealth/forbes-400--they are numbers 4, 7, 8 and 9 on the list).  I can't imagine being worth approximately 20 or more billion dollars, as each of those four are, and having my name tied to such a disgusting looking--and acting--company as Wal-Mart.  But that's me.  (I know I'm not alone in this, however).

By comparison, consider the Hall family that owns and runs Hallmark and all their affiliate companies.  While no one person, let alone family, is perfect, Hallmark, the company, is known for quality in virtually everything it does and a great deal of people have ended up making good livings--and retirements--from having worked their lives there.

Another example would be the Kempers who own and run Commerce Bank.  They've made sure they run a quality organization that also happens to pay a decent living wage to its employees.

The Waltons?  Not only do they sell the most cheap crap, made from wherever, on the planet, but their company has also earned a reputation--shown on national television, "60 Minutes", to be specific--that they exploited their employees so much that they had directions for their employees on company stationery on how to apply for government benefits because they were paid so little at their jobs at Wal-Mart.

I will give them some amount of credit here for a) going "green" with some of their new stores and b) trying, as I understand it, to clean up their image but they've really laid down a bad track record and have a long way to go to clean it up.

Finally, Wal-Mart is also the company whose executive owns one of the worst, cheapest and losingest baseball teams in all of Major League Baseball.

What, exactly then, is there to like about Wal-Mart, anyway?

Just because the Waltons don't have any self-respect, doesn't mean we can't.

From what I've read of the original founder, Sam Walton, he paid a living wage to his employees and absolutely would not have wanted the corporation he started, owned and run this way.

Link:  http://books.google.com/books?id=iUm_y4JZLvQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=sam+walton&source=bll&ots=qtypWHSMxj&sig=JWVvJGg-h-ya7x3IlGAafo0arkk&hl=en&ei=lIEwTYTELYyugQf17dGqCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=19&ved=0CJ8BEOgBMBI#v=onepage&q&f=false