Walmart vs Whole Foods taste challenge.... Ooops!

Either you did not understand my point or I did not convey it in an adequate manner. Many jobs look relatively easy if you look at a short enough span of what is done. What makes it a "job" in the big sense of the word is to be able to do this task hour after hour, day after day and in a manner that is safe (for your own protection as well as the liability of the company) and consistent with the company's standards under the relatively stressful conditions of line work (I have never worked in the auto industry, but I have worked in packaging operations years ago and the principle is the same -- shutting down the line will bring you a lot of unwanted attention). I never suggested that an employee should be paid an hourly wage that becomes progressively larger as the clock ticks.

I have heard a lot of people complain about union workers when they may not be entirely aware of what these workers actually do -- sometimes it seems to be more of a political stance or, perhaps, a matter of jealousy or a sense of entitlement. Please note that I am not suggesting these things about you in particular as I have no way of knowing, but that this is what I have experienced with other folks. Unions are like everything else in that they have good and bad points, but I can't help but believe that they have provided an overall positive change to the average American worker whether you are a union member or not (i.e., better working conditions, reasonable hours, workplace safety, etc.). Before someone calls me out, I am well aware of the scandals and corruption of the past, but I would suggest that these things occur almost anytime you have people grouped together for some purpose.
Now, if you will excuse me, my alarm goes off at 4 am to go to my new job that does not seem to suffer the sins of my jobs past (yes, it is a union job).

With a few exceptions, I try and stay out of these political/socioeconomic discussions. I'll make this one of those exceptions.

Welcome to the dark side.

dark side.jpg

I have heard a lot of people complain about union workers when they may not be entirely aware of what these workers actually do -- sometimes it seems to be more of a political stance or, perhaps, a matter of jealousy or a sense of entitlement.

BINGO !...yer in the front row.

Hecks, and the like were the center of commerce. Now it's Wal-mart.

Downtowns are just a shrine to the very commerce and businesses that the anti-capitalist crowd in the next breath tears down. "We hate business, but we love the old places where business used to be!" "We miss Woolworth's but we hate Wal-Mart!"

The truth is, they typically don't really hate business or capitalism (they, in fact, practice both), they hate change. Wal-Mart brought change. Change is bad. Wal-mart was new. New is bad.

Old is good.

Or maybe old is just old.

I was nodding along, in something just short of agreement, up until the "downtowns are just shrines..." part. Everything after that point just seemed like an unnecessary "Fox News" move based in broad generalizations, name calling, and pointless rhetoric. You caught me. I pine - in the form of crying in my pillow nightly - for a time so far past. That's the anti-capitalist in me. Back when Ma and Pa owned the corner deli, Grandma came over nightly for dinner, and the world was a better place. Wait, what? You know, way back in 1982, the year of my birth. Those good ole days I miss so much.

It's not so much I hate change, I just hate the "all progress is good progress," "bigger is better, but bigger and faster is the best," and "you either support progress or hate America" mindsets.

I don't think I called anybody names, and nobody said hating Wal-Mart was unAmerican. Having and expressing a difference of opinion is about as American as it gets. I was simply stating my lack of nostalgia for the "downtowns" of yesterday. I also don't miss the wild west saloon, general store, and horse drawn buggy.

You may be interested to know that I am a registered democrat and voted as such in every Presidential race since I become of voting age.

I am also a working member of corporate America, and my chosen field is rooted in change and progess.

To me, all progress is good, otherwise it wouldn't be progress. Instead of longing for the past, I look forward to the future. There is nothing wrong with honoring where we came from as long as it doesn't interfere with where we're going.

You can't become what you want to be by remaining what you are.

Wal-Mart isn't perfect but they brought about profound change in how we operate as a country and we have all benefited from it (a rising tide raises all ships), regardless of what you think of them and of the unfortunate (but limited) side effects of the changes they brought about.

You are correct, I am not cut out for the repetitive assembly line life, but I do not begrudge them. I don't see the relationship between how long I perform a process and how much I am paid. Tightening a screw should be paid the same $ amount per hour for 1 hour vs. 8 hours. My wage does not increase as the day goes on and I doubt most workers do.

Kind of like me doing sit-ups. Yeah, I can do one or two, but the real benefit and challenge comes in doing 20 or 30 (or some 90 or 100) Garbage workers get paid considerably more than I do just to tip cans but when you factor in the early morning hours, cold (or extremely hot) weather not to mention the "ick" factor I think they earn it, whether or not they're considered skilled.

I like food.

Either you did not understand my point or I did not convey it in an adequate manner.

Neither, my reply was not worded correctly. Probably had something to do with the Nemesis I was drinking.

I didn't mean the wage should increase as the hours went by. I just don't think how long you tighten a screw should justify the $25/hour wage. I am sure there are plenty of union jobs that are horribly hard and unpleasant and deserve the wages associated with them. I am only speaking to the screw tightening and button pusher jobs. All the underachievers I went to high school with now hold these jobs.

Didn't really mean to spark a walmart hot-or-not debate as I thought the food angle was interesting. But since it's been started...I reckon most small town dry goods and hardware stores were wiped out by the likes of K-Mart and various department store chains/malls in the 60's and 70's. Walmart simply mopped up what was left of the dying sector in the 80's..

As far as food goes, I grew up in small town Indiana and we used to shop at the Piggly Wiggly or the IGA. Occasionally in trips to the big city we would shop at the expensive Krogers for "exotic" wares. Anyhoo, I don't reckon the cashiers at Walmart today have any worse working conditions than they did at the Piggly Wiggly back then. Walmart sure provides a better variety of fresh foods than we could ever imagine back then.

So I guess I'm agnostic on Walmart. I don't have one within 3500 miles of me. I don't find shopping there to be particularly aesthetically pleasing. OTOH it's no worse than big-box superstores in Europe and quite a bit better in many regards. If I lived in the States I could see splitting my grocery dollar between Whole Foods and Walmart/Kroger/Meiers/Aldi, etc.

Didn't really mean to spark a walmart hot-or-not debate as I thought the food angle was interesting. But since it's been started...I reckon most small town dry goods and hardware stores were wiped out by the likes of K-Mart and various department store chains/malls in the 60's and 70's. Walmart simply mopped up what was left of the dying sector in the 80's..

As far as food goes, I grew up in small town Indiana and we used to shop at the Piggly Wiggly or the IGA. Occasionally in trips to the big city we would shop at the expensive Krogers for "exotic" wares. Anyhoo, I don't reckon the cashiers at Walmart today have any worse working conditions than they did at the Piggly Wiggly back then. Walmart sure provides a better variety of fresh foods than we could ever imagine back then.

So I guess I'm agnostic on Walmart. I don't have one within 3500 miles of me. I don't find shopping there to be particularly aesthetically pleasing. OTOH it's no worse than big-box superstores in Europe and quite a bit better in many regards. If I lived in the States I could see splitting my grocery dollar between Whole Foods and Walmart/Kroger/Meiers/Aldi, etc.

You say you don't have a walmart within 3500 miles of you. Well, they just don't call it that. What about the 95 stores they bought in Germany? www.retailforward.com/retailintel/speci ... almart.pdf

What about Wal-mart pulling out of Germany?

"Wal-Mart to sell 85 stores in Germany and exit country"

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/07/28/wal-mart-to-sell-85-stores-in-germany-and-exit-country/

Walmart had its Waterloo in Germany and had to sell their stores at bargain basement prices to Metro so they could hightail it back to Arkansas. They found themselves in competition with five smaller versions of themselves and failed to properly research Germany where hard discounters dominate. Basically, they got Walmarted themselves.

Walmart had its Waterloo in Germany and had to sell their stores at bargain basement prices to Metro so they could hightail it back to Arkansas. They found themselves in competition with five smaller versions of themselves and failed to properly research Germany where hard discounters dominate. Basically, they got Walmarted themselves.

Hard discounters are abundant in Germany. When I lived in Strasbourg, the French (and we) regularly crossed the border into Kehl to shop at the discount stores.

Was Aldi one of these stores?

Mkay, my .02. The business model that Walmart (and Whole Foods for that matter) follows is one that extolls the virtue of success by domination. When a company becomes a juggernaut, it gobbles up everything in it's path, leaving nothing behind. So, I guess if we value a bland and homogenized world than we are heading in the right direction with Walmart. I guess, when everything is said and done, we can look back and say variety used to be the spice of life.....

Was Aldi one of these stores?

Had to be. Aldi is a big German company.