Magical Cat's Corner

Why I Don't Shop At Wal-mart

I've read or heard about many complaints against Wal-mart... Wal-mart has been accused of paying employees less than its competitors in order to offer lower prices, they promote more men than women, they import everything from foreign countries, they contribute to the downfall of the environment, and so on... People have boycotted the stores because of these issues, but these are not the reasons I avoid shopping there. People are still willing to work at Wal-mart, and as long as people are willing to work for less pay or unequal benefits, why would Wal-mart change?

The reasons I avoid Wal-mart are more personal. The long lines, the incompetent check-out clerks, and the caliber of person who shops there all deter me from going in. We received two Wal-mart gift cards for Christmas last year, and it took three trips in to spend them. Each time I was reminded of the reasons I do not shop there.

After waiting in line for what seemed like an eternity with screaming children all around, the check out person began scanning my items. He would scan something, and then instead of putting it in the bag, he would set it down on the counter in front of the scanner... I didn't think much of it, but when I got home and looked at my receipt, he had rung up some lotion twice. I made a second trip to the store in freezing rain and waited in line again at the customer service desk to get my $3.99 back. When I got back to my car, a shopping cart was against the hood of my car. I didn't see any damage, but I was annoyed.

Another trip to Wal-mart to spend more of the gift cards resulted in another long line with the most excruciatingly slow check-out person I've ever seen. We had many items, and she kept asking us if we wanted things in a bag. Finally, James said "Yes, we would like EVERYTHING in a bag."

There are many instances of rude shoppers with eight million kids who really annoy me. There was a woman who had lost her child and began screaming in the middle of the baby department, a man who had a crying baby who smacked the baby and told it to quit crying, a woman holding a toddler so close to me in the check-out that the kid was kicking me in the back, and there are so many people who lack enough basic social skills to simply say "excuse me" when they bump into you, butt in front of you, or nearly run you over with their cart. I'm sure not everyone who shops at Target is polite, but what is up with Wal-mart? Maybe the sheer brightness of the store drives everyone there crazy. I am a firm believer that fluorescent bulbs suck one's will to live. The Wal-mart near us is excessively bright.

When it comes to shopping, I'll pay the extra 30 cents to go to Target.