TechnoEarthMama

If you’re a regular reader, you’re probably not surprised to find that I don’t shop at Wal-Mart.  It’s not just some knee-jerk reaction for me, though. I know Wal-Mart has changed or improved some of their environmental and human resources practices. I know people who work there and have no problems.  I know people who shop there and benefit from the low prices.

I also know of several negative issues that lead me not to shop at Wal-Mart. Some of my reasons are personal, and some are more global.

Wal-Mart isn’t very close to where I live. The closest one is 5.3 miles away by car or bike. That’s further than I normally go to shop. I tend to stay within a mile or two of home.

Being inside a Wal-Mart store makes me crazy. They’re crowded, the shelves and excess merchandise tower over you, and the merchandise is often misplaced.  The noise level is high, and the lines are long — even in the express lanes.

Wal-Mart doesn’t pay employees enough. There’s some controversy about this. People in some positions say they are getting paid enough. Others think it’s OK, because these jobs are often filled by students, retirees, and other part-timers anyway.  I do think people deserve to be paid a living wage, but I’m not sure any more how to judge Wal-Mart in this area.  Wal-Mart’s average hourly wage for U.S. workers in 2008 was $10.86.

Wal-Mart sells things too cheaply. What? That’s a problem? But Wal-Mart is providing a service to the community by keeping their prices low.  NO. Sorry. There are several things wrong with this.  How do they get the prices so low? By underpaying employees, by squeezing their suppliers (who are then forced to cut their costs somehow), and by selling merchandise that’s made in other countries where manufacturing and labor are cheaper (even cheaper than Wal-Mart wages).

I’m not OK with getting lower prices on the backs of other people.  Also, people in the U.S. have now gotten the impression that we should always get the lowest possible prices on everything, and that we deserve to have things that are really luxury items at lower prices too.  Remember when some people couldn’t afford TV’s, VCR’s, and video game systems? These things are now almost considered a human right in the U.S.  Give us the lower prices, environment, salaries and human rights be damned! And meanwhile people wonder where all of the good manufacturing jobs have gone.

With all that said, I’m still shopping occasionally at Target (which is closer) for the things I need. Mostly little things, like contact lens solution and laundry detergent.  Because they’re cheaper at Target. I’m told that Target is possibly more unpleasant than Wal-Mart as an employer.  Hypocritical? Yeah. Alternative? I don’t know, is Fred Meyer any better?

SOURCES

Today I decided to take a real Sabbath day. I didn’t go to church, because we don’t do that any more.  I didn’t do anything!  I didn’t ride my bike, or exercise on purpose in any way. I didn’t do any housework or volunteer work. Okay, I did manage to feed my family and water [...]

Yesterday, North Portland got to enjoy 7.5 miles of car-free streets as part of the city’s Sunday Parkways program.
There will be two more Sunday Parkways events this year, but none of them very close to where we live. You see, I live out east. We’re still within the city limits, mind you. Just so [...]

In case you were wondering, yes, there is a nonviolent movement in Iran.  We know that the government has fired on its own people, and we’ve seen protestors who seem less than peaceful as well, but here is one call for non-violent protests.  I think they’ve probably done this for Tuesday already, although I don’t [...]

I tweeted the other day about the Iran election:

Since then, I haven’t greened my avatar, I haven’t changed my location and timezone to Tehran, and I haven’t retweeted anything about the election.  Because I don’t know if those are really the right things to do, and, like I said, because I’m not sure who to [...]

I tweeted about it yesterday.
10:08 AM: Anxiety and self-questioning FTL.
About 5:00 PM: NERVES.
Nothing I did made it better.  I took my daily meds. I exercised. I completed a few menial tasks. I didn’t stop and do deep breathing exercises, because I didn’t remember that it might help (even though someone did remind me to BREATHE).
But [...]

This feels silly, because I don’t write poetry (and after reading this, you may think that’s a good thing).
I wrote previously about CubeSpace’s financial problems.  While there was strong support (including financial support) from the community for keeping CubeSpace open, owners Eva Schweber and David Kominsky eventually decided it was best to fold the business, [...]

This morning, the whole family wanted to go to the farmers’ market.  I thought we’d pick up some veggies and have lunch.  Steven wanted to visit the free health screening van (he doesn’t have medical insurance).  The kids just like to get out and about.
I told them we’d have to do some cleaning up first.  [...]