wal-mart; better than slavery

decides2dream

farfromglorified wrote:

If you're a big fan of workers unionizing and not a big fan of companies that actively try to prevent them from unionizing, Target is not for you.

well i am not so black and white in my thinking. do they treat their workers fairly? offer them good benefits and pay? etc. i realize with most things, there are trade-offs, i don't expect absolute perfection in anyone or anything...just to at the very least try to do right by people and treat them fairly, etc.

farfromglorified

decides2dream wrote:

well i am not so black and white in my thinking. do they treat their workers fairly? offer them good benefits and pay? etc. i realize with most things, there are trade-offs, i don't expect absolute perfection in anyone or anything...just to at the very least try to do right by people and treat them fairly, etc.

I'm quite impressed.

Workers at Target are paid better than their counterparts at Wal-Mart. Starting salaries are around 7-7.50 / hour. Workers who put in more than 20/hours per week are given health benefits, including dental and some prescription drug packages.

decides2dream

farfromglorified wrote:

I'm quite impressed.

Workers at Target are paid better than their counterparts at Wal-Mart. Starting salaries are around 7-7.50 / hour. Workers who put in more than 20/hours per week are given health benefits, including dental and some prescription drug packages.

well then, *whew* i can still shop at target. now just don't tell me anymore...sweatshops and child labor, etc. as i said, i LIKE target.


btw - why impressed? i am a fairly moderate person, that is all.

farfromglorified

decides2dream wrote:

well then, *whew* i can still shop at target. now just don't tell me anymore...sweatshops and child labor, etc. as i said, i LIKE target.

Some of their suppliers are questionable, hate to tell you. But that's more about buying the right kind of products from them, rather than not shopping there altogether.

I shop at Target regularly, though I'm careful about what I buy there. I refuse to buy anything from Wal-Mart.

btw - why impressed? i am a fairly moderate person, that is all.

And that is impressive.

mammasan

The residents of the town I live in, not to long ago, fought to keep a Wal-Mart out of our town. We simply did not want to see our local merchants loose their business' because of Wal-Mart. This town has a very small town feel to it with a beautiful main street with locally owned shops and it would be a crime to have disappear. I have never set foot in a Wal-Mart and really the only problem I have had until now with the company is that they can afford it's customers lower prices which kills your local mom and pop merchants.

decides2dream

farfromglorified wrote:

Some of their suppliers are questionable, hate to tell you. But that's more about buying the right kind of products from them, rather than not shopping there altogether.

I shop at Target regularly, though I'm careful about what I buy there. I refuse to buy anything from Wal-Mart.



And that is impressive.

well just don't tell me anything about banana republic/the gap/ old navy.
there really is no big corporate entity with a completely unblemished record...and the smaller companies who are ideal, b/c they are so small, they are usually far more expensive. so while you may truly *want* to do right, it is oftentimes just too expensive to do so in *all* things, so such....i try to look at the greater good, and probably even more, chose the lesser of two evils. it's not ideal, but i do try....and i will continue to try and do more with my choices as i can.

hell, i used to work for crate&barrel, and we used to get these quarterly newsletters telling us about goings on in the company, new products, etc. first let me preface this with 99.5% of all their products are imported..it's actually a part of who they are as a company. so then, that said...this one newsletter was discussing the return of a product from a previous holiday season, a really 'hot seller' etc. it was this snowman table decoration, and it had that soft, fake 'snow' all over it. the picture that accompanied it was of a man in a hut, surrounded by these snowmen and all the 'snow' to cover em....sitting on the floor...with a huge smile on his face. it then went on discussing the production, etc. i didn't know if i was to think this is a good or bad thing? it's so hard to tell sometimes.

anyway...well then, thanks?

farfromglorified

decides2dream wrote:

well just don't tell me anything about banana republic/the gap/ old navy.

You should definitely look into everywhere you shop! But I'll keep my mouth shut on those and leave it for you to research.

there really is no big corporate entity with a completely unblemished record...and the smaller companies who are ideal, b/c they are so small, they are usually far more expensive. so while you may truly *want* to do right, it is oftentimes just too expensive to do so in *all* things, so such....i try to look at the greater good, and probably even more, chose the lesser of two evils. it's not ideal, but i do try....and i will continue to try and do more with my choices as i can.

That's almost all you can do. But there are two additional options not mentioned in the above....going without or doing it yourself. No amount of whining or teaching can change the world. In the end, someone has to act to change it, right? A company cannot sell what we don't buy, and a company will have a hard time selling a product that we make better.

hell, i used to work for crate&barrel, and we used to get these quarterly newsletters telling us about goings on in the company, new products, etc. first let me preface this with 99.5% of all their products are imported..it's actually a part of who they are as a company. so then, that said...this one newsletter was discussing the return of a product from a previous holiday season, a really 'hot seller' etc. it was this snowman table decoration, and it had that soft, fake 'snow' all over it. the picture that accompanied it was of a man in a hut, surrounded by these snowmen and all the 'snow' to cover em....sitting on the floor...with a huge smile on his face. it then went on discussing the production, etc. i didn't know if i was to think this is a good or bad thing? it's so hard to tell sometimes.

Yikes!

anyway...well then, thanks?

Thank you.

melodious

tybird wrote:

Yes, yes............I refer to their greet personel as the "door nazis." Corporate paranoia????

Have you ever questioned their authority?

farfromglorified

melodious wrote:

Have you ever questioned their authority?

I hope that was meant to be a joke, because I just laughed my ass off.

melodious

mammasan wrote:

The residents of the town I live in, not to long ago, fought to keep a Wal-Mart out of our town. We simply did not want to see our local merchants loose their business' because of Wal-Mart. This town has a very small town feel to it with a beautiful main street with locally owned shops and it would be a crime to have disappear. I have never set foot in a Wal-Mart and really the only problem I have had until now with the company is that they can afford it's customers lower prices which kills your local mom and pop merchants.

My friend and I were debating even validation of discussion about Wal-Mart. He simply says that it wouldn't be, if it wasn't wanted. He said to me, "Even you want it, buy spending money. If you use it; you got no business talking about it. You want it simple as that."

ok..so I am a hypocrite; who's not? and now....

The example of your community tells me he is so. I actually cried for animals and habitat when they came to tear trees out. For three months, there was a controlled burn going on. No they did not give wood to locals, either. Walmart property adjoins property where I am employed. Only ten years ago, I would look out the window at work and see two or three deer trailing through. Once Wally-world was founded, the deer have been pushed back even further into woodlands. Rattlesnake population rose immediately afterwards as well. Now local Wal-Mart has decreased customer aisle space so it's customer unfriendly and has employees talking about "Super Store".....I told associate; I'm not against Wal-Mart, but I'm not actually into seeing a community in which I have lived dry up to Corporate Retailer. I'm sorry you won't get my voting support. S/m is correct; I shouldn't talk about it; but if I don't then how will I make good choices to support or stand against in a future upcoming city council discussion? How will I discuss this topic to people in my community?

melodious

farfromglorified wrote:

I hope that was meant to be a joke, because I just laughed my ass off.

Fom what i've noticed around here; it takes laughter to make a point. No. Not a joke. I have several times. I ask them why they have to check my bag when I they know and see me come through all the time? What pleasure does it give you to follow that particualr rule?

In fact yesterday, I asked a d.a. how he could sleep at night when he's fully responsible for imprisoning and terrorizing cannabis growers. i met up with him in hallway after a friend remanded himself into custody to serve a 16 month sentence at sq for growing the ganja. and the little baldie told me, ma'am have a nice day...i says to him after i politely opened a door for him...that i hope you have the SWEETEST dreams....uhhhhmmmmmm.....did i do that really?

farfromglorified

melodious wrote:

Fom what i've noticed around here; it takes laughter to make a point. No. Not a joke. I have several times. I ask them why they have to check my bag when I they know and see me come through all the time? What pleasure does it give you to follow that particualr rule?

Oh. I didn't realize those people searched bags and that kind of thing. I just thought they were there to say "hi". That's why the comment seemed so funny.

In fact yesterday, I asked a d.a. how he could sleep at night when he's fully responsible for imprisoning and terrorizing cannabis growers. i met up with him in hallway after a friend remanded himself into custody to serve a 16 month sentence at sq for growing the ganja. and the little baldie told me, ma'am have a nice day...i says to him after i politely opened a door for him...that i hope you have the SWEETEST dreams....uhhhhmmmmmm.....did i do that really?

Now that is a position of authority that should be questioned until it is eliminated. Most seriously.

RockinInCanada

melodious wrote:

Fom what i've noticed around here; it takes laughter to make a point. No. Not a joke. I have several times. I ask them why they have to check my bag when I they know and see me come through all the time? What pleasure does it give you to follow that particualr rule?

In fact yesterday, I asked a d.a. how he could sleep at night when he's fully responsible for imprisoning and terrorizing cannabis growers. i met up with him in hallway after a friend remanded himself into custody to serve a 16 month sentence at sq for growing the ganja. and the little baldie told me, ma'am have a nice day...i says to him after i politely opened a door for him...that i hope you have the SWEETEST dreams....uhhhhmmmmmm.....did i do that really?

Marijuana laws in the States are a joke...BTW how are you doing melody? Still fighting the good fight I see !

melodious

decides2dream wrote:

well said.
i have never set foot in a wal-mart. up until about 2 years ago? there wasn't even one remotely nearby...i think there was one wal-mart on all of long island...and it was way out east...so yea, never been. saw em once or twice during travels, never had a need/desire to stop in one.

i assume most of our area didn't either, b/c it did close.

it has been suggested to me that patronizing walmart is a class event. meaning, that nobody with any money really wants to become intertwined..face it; if you have $100,000 a year; you're not gonna focus on second-rate/second hand store; you're gonna tend to streamline. have you ever heard a kid say, let's go hang out at wal-mart? there's some activity lacking in that community to allow wally worlds to come along. but more certainly, it is more attractive socially to hang out in macy's.. wal-mart tends to market where people are struggling; in the same respect as home depot does it's focus on thriving development communites...they research and seek out areas where there is an economic crisis and like samaritans, save the depleted job market and take on a new controlling interest in community events.

i don't really know or have ever heard that wal-mart plays into conspiracy theories, but it wouldn't surprise me

i wonder if wal-mart has profit sharing program for employees?

melodious

Rockin'InCanada wrote:

Marijuana laws in the States are a joke.

yes; laws regarding plants are a joke and what could come to us in states can have vibrating effect on other countries.

BTW how are you doing melody? Still fighting the good fight I see !

Not fighting a fight; I'm just living and learning. Wow. Funny I come acrost you today. Good to see you, as well. I have been working at a little corporate job, since we last spoke...It's at Wal-Mart, hehehehehee! They'd never hire me becasue I could never pass their.......tests...well you know what I mean....!!!!

Gotta get out of this chair and get some housework taken care of. A friend sent me some info that I will pass along to you RiC..look for a note.

farfromglorified

melodious wrote:

i wonder if wal-mart has profit sharing program for employees?

No. The US government does. It's called minimum wage. And it invalidates the word "sharing".

melodious

farfromglorified wrote:

Oh. I didn't realize those people searched bags and that kind of thing. I just thought they were there to say "hi". That's why the comment seemed so funny.

it's a real cutlure that wal-mart mentality. see how subtle management tactics can be ; you notice less scrutiny when a friendly face is in the forefront.

'night! It was a pleasure participating with this discussion...take care

RockinInCanada

melodious wrote:

yes; laws regarding plants are a joke and what could come to us in states can have vibrating effect on other countries.
Not fighting a fight; I'm just living and learning. Wow. Funny I come acrost you today. Good to see you, as well. I have been working at a little corporate job, since we last spoke...It's at Wal-Mart, hehehehehee! They'd never hire me becasue I could never pass their.......tests...well you know what I mean....!!!!

Gotta get out of this chair and get some housework taken care of. A friend sent me some info that I will pass along to you RiC..look for a note.

Hope to see it soon!