In A Wal-Mart Kind Of Hell

SF Chronicle ^ | Wednesday, June 18, 2003 | Mark Morford, confused liberal

[presidio9]

Stop. You've found it. This is the place. Americana HQ. Patriotism in a giant tin bucket. This is where souls recoil, children wail, dreams die.

This is Wal-Mart. The glorious consumer mecca, the epic wonderland/wasteland of prefab landfill merch, not only the world's largest and most powerful retailer and the most aggressive snarling frightening happy-place marketer and quite possibly the most hideously overlit soul-draining monster empire you will ever know in your entire lifetime, but also the very multibillion-dollar pseudo-Christian kingdom that censors their offerings and refuses to sell certain music CDs and bans "risqu

[presidio9]

But... but... but... Ms. Morford, don't you know that pornography like Maxim objectifies women and reinforces the cultural glass ceiling in our society?

[foreverfree]

bump

[Xenalyte]

Blah blah blah blah blah.

Not that I like Wal-Mart, mind you. I'd sooner stick needles in my eyes than shop there. Down here in Houston, Wal-Marts are dirty, cluttered, loud, and generally zoolike.

[Alouette]

This guy is on some dangerously bad crack.

[RippleFire]

Gee Markie, why don't you shop somewhere else?

[maeng]

"Wal-Mart is, in short, deciding what America needs based on the shockingly uptight whims and intolerant perspectives of the hard Right"... So much better than the uptight whims and intolerant perspectives of the hard Left!

[randog]

I had no idea that Wal*Mart was the only department store in SF. There are a lot of different stores in my town where you can shop if you don't like Wal*Mart or you can't find what you need there. We even have a JC Penney's and a Sears. Maybe I'll write a letter to them and suggest they put some stores in San Francisco so the people there have a choice other than the almighty Wal*Mart.

[presidio9]

suckass

Is this a pratice you are familiar with Mark?

Not to worry, I'm told the pets department at Walmart has a wide selection of furry rodents.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Ms. Moford has a permanent case of PMS.

[RMDupree]

Do you understand? Do you see the danger?

Mr. Morford needs his nappy changed in aisle 5.

[Little Ms. FReepette]

I think I was at a Wal Mart like 11 years ago to some kind of crap.

I remember it the same way you describe.

[tcostell]

The Walmart on Rt 6 in Peekskill NY is clean, the service is decent, and ammunition is 20% to 40% cheaper than the sporting goods store down the street.

My wife just bought me a Winchester Turkey Vest there (retail $60), and only spent $20 on it. How can you not love something like that?!

I know how entertaining it is to bash the big bad consumer giant, but in my personal world where cash is not limitless, price matters, and I'd rather buy a name brand at a 2% markup than a 10% markup. You gotta love a place that does volume (and has does "end of season" discounts on hunting supplies).

[axel f]

Are there any writers on the right who write columns this bizarre or have mental problems to this degree? I can't think of any.

[nyconse]

I love Walmart. My 13 year old son is only allowed to buy video games and CDs at Walmart. If Walmart didn't exist, he wouldn't be allowed to buy them.

Walmart is the #1 company in the country; it appears Walmart is giving people what they want. This is Christian bashing: those dangerous pseudo-Christians at Walmart are censoring magazines and CD's!

Since Walmart is not a publisher of CD's or magazines, I fail to see how they are censoring anything. Also, Walmart has a right to cater to their customers who do not want their kids exposed to filth.

Leftist are so strange. If this guy doesn't like Walmart, he can always shop in a different store. I can't imagine working up that much speen over a store!

[jwalburg]

Only in SF will you get the term "Bible-lickin' censorship." Man is this one out in left field! Funny read.

[TontoKowalski]

"...groups like the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association (AFA), one of those desperately hyper-Christian anti-choice anti-gay anti-porn asexual pseudo-ethical groups representing "traditional" family values..."

Where do I sign up!?!