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

[mhking]

I think you'll find that online book sellers like Amazon.com have done more to hurt suburban and rural bookstores than wal-mart has.

Be careful. You're obfuscating their argument with the truth. The union bosses might not like it.

[Xenalyte]

Y'know, Alien Zoo would be a GREAT name for a band!

[Abe Froman]

Mr. Morford:

You are cordially invited to take a long walk off a short pier.

GET BENT

[BSunday]

Phew! That's a lot of words just to say:
All corporations are evil
Wal Mart is one of the biggest corportatiosn
Therefore, Wal Mart is the most evil

What a flaming moron

[Ditter]

I certainly agree with that but why do California freepers diss Texas? Is it like my mother used to say "monkey see, monkey do" ?

[altura]

My Wal-Mart is clean, kempt and crowded. The biggest danger is getting knocked down by running kids.

And tongue fluid exchange IS disgusting, unless one is a participant.

[Geritol]

I hate bigots

[cyncooper]

I certainly agree with that but why do California freepers diss Texas?

Don't know. Got a sample of that? (Since I don't live in either, I may have skimmed over such.)

[daviddennis]

Gigantic chain bookstores, which are part of the same trend you bewail, have increased the variety of books available by an enormous factor. Independent bookstores tend to carry lefty stuff, at least here, while Barnes & Noble and Borders carry a balanced selection of over 100,000 titles.

Actually, now that we have huge bookstores, I see no reason for public libraries anymore; I can drop into a huge bookstore, read for as long as I want, the selection's bang up to date, and everything's modern, clean and slick. I can even get a hot chocolate or croissant while I'm reading.

Walmart doesn't do that, but I don't see the enormous bookstores disappearing any time soon.

I don't like Walmart because from my standpoint they sell pretty crummy stuff. I'm not going to find my Canon XL1, Canon EOS D30 digital still camera or PowerBook G4 there. Instead, there's boring, mainstream stuff I have little to no interest in. I share that basic set of values with the author, but at the same time I don't think WalMart deserves this kind of venom. You don't want to shop there, don't shop there. 7-11 has an ample number of copies of Cosmo and Maxim if you want them. As do your local huge bookstores. So enjoy, ignore WalMart, and have a happier life.

Dogbyte, where do you live? I don't see any shortage of shopping variety around here, but then again, I live in LA, where you can find pretty much everything that exists with a few minutes' effort. Pity about the horrible cost of living.

D

[okkev68]

The one here in Edmond is the same way. Very clean, very friendly staff. My only gripe is that the cart returns are 1/4 mile away from 90% of the parking spaces. With three small children it becomes a pain.

[hchutch]

Same here in northern VA. I am unhappy that they removed Maxim, but at the same time, I can either subscribe to the mag, or I can buy it at a local newsstand.

So Marky don't like it. I so. He is free to take his business elsewhere. Last time I checked, this was a free country.

[oyez]

?! I wish Waffle House would migrate up here too...! ;)

Why on earth? I guess you like to wait around forever for crummy service. WH ait't what it used to be. Sorry.

[Grando Calrissian]

Actually there's a Wal-Mart in Oakland and one in Martinez, but your point is dead on. Wal-Mart has no influence on commerce in the Bay Area.

[cashion]

That isn't bashing. Her post was constructive and useful.

said Xenalyte, "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."

Yes, quite constructive and useful. Thank you for pointing out that my definitions of bashing, constructive, and useful are actually opposite of what I've thought all along. /sarcasm

[Xenalyte]

Off with ye, Wal-Mart shill.

[Gargantua]

"Wal-Mart is... a hollow and deeply frightening Christian-values mega-retailer that makes you feel like you need a karmic shower and soul de-lousing..."

While we can offer our opinions as to the dementia this author clearly suffers from, I know that I am not qualified to help him.

This psycho needs a good shrink, padded incarceration with no sharp objects present, and a steady dose of mind-numbing medication. He is a threat to himself.

;-/

[Gargantua]

What happened? I missed it, I was taking a Karmic shower...

[94Revolution]

There is one Aisle at my Wal-Mart that has NO candy in it..

Just get rid of the damn candy at the check out lanes please! My kids don't look at those ignorant Magazines.

/sigh

[Xenalyte]

Kinda like third world conditions huh?

A lot like that, yes. However, it's not universal, or our Targets would be nasty too, and they're pretty clean.