Watch out for falling prices! ouch

Today was payday, so I went to Walmart. The two go hand in hand - I get money, and I go to Walmart to buy things. Not to buy GREAT things, but just things. Like toilet paper, printer paper, dog food, me food, etc.

Anyway, when I left Walmart, I felt like I had just been raped. In more ways than one. First, half my paycheck was gone. Granted, it was for things I needed and/or wanted - I finally bought an all-in-one printer because I desperately needed to print out some documents for my emt license. And I just wanted a printer.

Second, it was PAYDAY. For more than just ME. Apparently the whole city of Iron Mountain gets paid the same day, and heads to Walmart. Not only that - today must've been "Bring your oldest relative or someone in a wheelchair to Walmart and you'll get a 2 percent discount" day. I know - I'm super mean. But honestly, I haven't seen that many seniors and quadriplegics in a lonnggg time. And those two subtypes of human beings like to take their precious time. I am a horrible shopper. I know what I want, I go get what I want, and I leave. But today that was impossible, and I feel raped.

And Walmart didn't have ANYTHING I wanted today. I do not like to buy clothes there, except for under-t-shirts and things like that. Well, I really wanted a couple long-sleeve white t-shirts, to wear underneath other shirts. I really like that combo. There was not a single white long-sleeve t-shirt in Walmart. OK, I take that back. There were three of them - one medium, and two 3XL. I require a large. Grrrr.

So I finally thought to myself, hey, ok now. Calm. I will just kick myself in the head, and go forth with the plan that has been stored in my brain for years - to boycott Walmart and go elsewhere. Really, I would LOVE to do that. And I actually tried it today. I went to JcPenney (not my favorite store, but we are limited here.) There were no long-sleeve white t-shirts. I did buy a pair of Haggar khakis and a shirt for 2.97. Then I went to Shopko (the "Wanna-be-Target" of the upper midwest.) They had no long-sleeve white t-shirts either. I bought a hoody.

So how do we get around this evil, corrupt Walmart beast? I guess the only way to do it here, in the forest, is to go to stores which are slightly more user-friendly, but just as crappy. I almost went to this store today called CJ's Ultimate Outlet. They sell odds and ends of 'designer' merchandise at huge discounts! So they say. One time I went there, and I looked at a set of pots and pans, and almost vomited when I noticed there was food burnt onto the bottom of one of them. I can't imagine what is lurking in their clothing.

My main reason for wanting to boycott Walmart is their policies toward their workers, and their total lack of disrespect and almost mafia-like control over the manufacturers of America (and the world, for that matter.) When the Supercenter was built here, about 3 years ago, they were hiring new staff on at $5.30 an hour. Wages are low up here, but for the richest corporation in America to pay employees less than the fast food joints (McDonald's was paying over $6.00 to start) is just a crime. And sadly, many people had no choice but to go and apply there, because the job market up here is always bad.

Walmart does their deposit every night, and an armored truck comes and takes that deposit straight to Arkansas, and nothing is left here. They make contracts with companies like Levi-Strauss, and demand a low-quality product at a price so low that it has to be made in one of the poorest nations. They drill into the American public through their ads that they are user-friendly, eco-friendly, concerned about the USA and the World, concerned about the poor and needy, and trying hard to do their best. But the lines are always too long. Never enough people working. And when they get sued by their own over-extended employees, they keep the litigations going forever so they don't ever end up paying anything out. A Walmart Supercenter moves into a town, makes everyone happy for a month, then turns into Harriet Oleson and closes down the competition. (A bad analogy - because I actually love Harriet Oleson.)

In other words, they rape us. All of us. And keep us going back with those cute, bubbly little "falling prices." When Garth Brooks sold out to Walmart, I just about threw in the towel. But now it's like war, where a soldier gets so used to seeing death that they don't even react to it anymore. Nothing Walmart does now would ever surprise me.

Why do I rant? At almost 3 in the morning? By the way, Happy Birthday to John Krasinski, actor on "The Office", which is the best show ever. Scene!