Hatred. AKA, Wal-Mart.

[ciroccoj]

I cannot express the verklempftness I feel when I tell somebody where I live and they say, "That's where they're building the new Wal-Mart! Oooh, that's exciting, isn't it?"

No. No, it is not *^$#ing exciting. Every time I go by the construction site, I want to spit. It used to be the high school of last resort for the worst of the worst kids in Ottawa, and for the Somali immigrant kids from the nearby housing project. It used to have a field for the kids to use during school hours and for soccer and football teams to use after school - and for people to walk their dogs, or have picnics, or play frisbee. It was the only part of the walk from our house to the grocery store that didn't take place next to roaring traffic. It was part of the community, and it was unique.

As of January, it will house cheap shoes and junk food and a huge honking parking lot. And it will pay its workers poorly, treat them like crap, threaten local small businesses, cause traffic congestion, and I could go on about its economic, environmental, and international impacts, but this all pisses me off too much so I'll leave it there before I rupture something.

"Oooh, that's exciting, isn't it?"

If by 'exciting' you mean 'nauseating', then OK, yeah, it's exciting, all right.


::hate hate hate hate hate::


ETA: Music soothes the savage anti-Wal-Mart beast, at least temporarily. Here's The Arrogant Worms' take on the topic: Big Box Store


The squirrels gathered nuts, the sun shone on the leaves
The fragrance of the flowers sweetened the gentle breeze
The birdies were all singing… but they’re not anymore
‘Cause I dug the whole thing up and built a big box store

CHORUS
Big box store, it’s my big box store
Coming here makes it clear what life’s worth living for
Big box store, it’s my big box store
It’s big! It’s a box! It’s my big box store

It’s as if a football field made love to a mall
And the baby that they had is my sweet suburban sprawl
Whose parking lot is bigger than the downtown it destroyed
Come on and enjoy shopping on steroids

CHORUS
At my big box store, it’s my big box store
Its rectangulated beauty is sure hard to ignore
Big box store, it’s my big box store
It’s big! It’s a box! It’s my big box store

BRIDGE
It’s got toys from China
And TV’s from China
And knick-knacks from China
And lamps from China
And clothes from China
And china from China
And employees from Mexico

So grab your big box wife and your growing big box kids
And get some big box stuff to shove into your big box fridge
If living large is what you want, we’ve got what you need
So buy a dozen sofas or a ten pound bag of cheese

CHORUS
At my big box store, it’s my big box store
You’ll come out with lots of stuff you did not come in for
Big box store, it’s my big box store
It’s big! It’s a box! It’s my big box store

Big box store, it’s my big box store
How can you ever have enough when there is so much more!
At my big box store, it’s my big box store
It’s big! It’s a box! It’s my big box store!

Comments

[officerjudy.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. :( But I love that song, thanks for the download!

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Welcome :) :)

[bast2.livejournal.com]

I agree with you.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

[nonniemous.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain, because we, too, are finally, finally getting a Walmart. Our town and several others refused them for years, and then finally one little community caved. *shakes fist*

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I hate the damn things. I hate how they pressure to come in where they're not bloody well wanted. Don't they have enough money already?

A self confessed Wal-Mart shopper

[daf9.livejournal.com]

I give them credit for how they responded to Katrina - but I wouldn't want one in my backyard either.

Re: A self confessed Wal-Mart shopper

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

One of the things I hate hearing is how, "Now you'll have one within walking distance!"

Yes, we will. Hands up anyone who actually believes that anybody will actually walk to it? Most people won't even want to walk across its parking lot. And a community that was barely walkable will become even less so.

One of the things they told us at one of the town meetings for this thing was that they would "compensate for the loss of the green space (soccer field) by putting a green roof."

Um... OK, so you're going to take out the one place people could walk through on their way to the local businesses without breathing in fumes and dodging cars and being deafened by traffic, replace it with a parking lot, and stick a green space on the roof of the Wal-Mart? So that instead of walking through the green space every few days on your way to and from somewhere, you now get to drive to Wal-Mart, walk through their store, and then hang around... on a roof?

This is compensation for the community? This, and cheap shoes?

Re: A self confessed Wal-Mart shopper

[daf9.livejournal.com]

In whose fantasy does a green roof compensate for the loss of a soccer field?

Re: A self confessed Wal-Mart shopper

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I know! Clearly, in the fantasies of people who do not understand what is this thing we speak of called "walking."

Nothing against green roofs. Providing you can do them right and they don't add a kajillion tons of building materials, apparently they're quite lovely as far as helping combat air pollution, giving little birdies and squirrels a place to live, and, in some bleak downtown landscapes, giving people's eyes a hint of green and maybe even a place to have a lunchtime picnic while they're at work.

We live in suburbia. Green space, we've got; acres and acres of carefully manicured lawns, which you can reach by car, as you reach everything else in suburbia. What we don't have are a lot of safe/pleasant/useful places to walk. Or nice outside public places in which to do nice outside public things - that don't involve spending money.

::sigh::

[snarkhunter.livejournal.com]

::hugs::

I have such conflicted feelings regarding WalMart. B/c on the one hand, I despise it and everything it stands for. When I go in there sometimes, I am reminded of the sheer insanity of our consuming. I once lived in a town that struggled mightly and succeeded in keeping WalMart OUT. (To this day, there is no WalMart in Gig Harbor, despite the city's crazed population and shopping-center explosions.)

And yet...I do shop there. I go there to buy beauty supplies, b/c it's the only place I can get a half-way decent price on makeup. I go there when I need cheap bookshelves, b/c the ones at Target aren't worth the cardboard they're packaged in. I go there to buy DVDs, b/c they have good prices and a decent selection.

I get all conflicted every time I go there, but I go anyway. I try to minimize my WalMart shopping--sticking mostly to Target (which is not that much better, but has a better rep) or Kroger (almost certainly ditto). It's gotten easier since WalMart got rid of their fabric section. That temptation is removed.

In short, I am part of the problem.

[daf9.livejournal.com]

This is my problem too. Certain things I like to buy at Wal-Mart because they are just so much cheaper AND better than comparable products at other stores.

[navhelowife.livejournal.com]

I'm conflicted about WM as well. It wasn't as bad, I think, when the stores themselves were smaller. Now they are all HUGE, and OPEN all the time, etc. And what they do to small town economies is not.nice.
I also think much of what they sell is crap.
BUT.... recently we have had a major drop in income. So now we are squeezing pennies till they cry, and WM is good for that. IF you can stay away from all the "junk" that you don't need but suddenly want.
HOWEVER...every time I shop there I think "Okay, this is a cheap price, but at what cost??"
When our income rebounds, I hope I'm strong enough to minimize my shopping there...and at many of the large box stores. However, we do have a KMart, next to the grocery store. I don't know why Kmarts don't bother me like Wal Marts do, maybe it is because they tend to blend in better? Anyway, it is older, and not the fanciest thing on the block but will do for those household things you can't find many other places...