Hiromi_X
Where worlds collide
Worlds collided yesterday. I went to Wal-Mart.
It was an interesting cultural experience. I avoid Wal-Mart for a number of reasons ranging from my objection to their business practices to the overall depressing atmosphere there. There are few things less aesthetically pleasing than a Wal-Mart. I haven't been there in years. However, I have had crap luck in finding a good oil change pan, so I said "Fuck it" and went. I was an alien there, just like I felt like an alien when I went to Z-Tejas, a local yuppie shithole here in Austin. Wal-Mart ain't the only place I'm an alien. Anyways. The nexus which brought me, the alien, to the world of the denizens of Wal-Mart was my oil change self-reliance. Here. I draw a Venn diagram for you:
Okay, look, I realize that I am risking sounding like an elitist asshole and that even though I bitch about being "poor," I still have the luxury of deciding where to spend my money, but Wal-Mart is fucken depressing, people. I absolutely cannot stand to smell popcorn and fake butter when I shop for things. I hate bad lighting and disorder in the aisles. I don't mind quaint clutter, but I do mind impersonal, institutional clutter.
I had my backpack with me, and so did not get a plastic bag. As I walked out of the store, I was asked for a receipt. I've never been suspected of shoplifting before (whether or not I actually have is beside the point). Feeling oddly pleased about being singled out for a security check, I proudly handed over my receipt to the "greeter" who asked me. When I rode out of the parking lot, I must have run over about three or four of those giant plastic disposable cups of drink. I proceeded out of the parking lot and onto a giant concrete slab of a highway lined on either side with anonymous strip malls and storage units. I was so glad to return to my leafy piece of central Austin.
As much of a leftie as I am, I must say I can't really relate to the working class folks who go to Wal-Mart. And unlike certain presidential candidates, I don't particularly feel like pretending I can relate to them. Does this mean I look down on them? No. Does this mean I think I'm better than them? No. Being unable to relate is not a sin.
I mean, shit, do we really expect presidential candidates to be like us? Come on, they're all exceptional in terms of ambition, drive, whatever. They're not regular, "average" people for chrissake. Who cares if they're like us? They don't have to be. They just have to *listen* to us.
Comments
WalMart should only be experienced late at night (same merchandise, same depressed/underpaid/underbenefitted workers, LESS screaming children running madly about). That said, they are great for things like oil drain pans :)
I go to WM regularly, mainly because it's either WM or KMart, and Kmart's hours are strange out here.
1. Posted by darkneuro on April 28, 2008
I can't ay I've ever been in a wal-mart outside of Hawaii. There, particularly on kauai, there's not really anyplace else to shop. But even so, there's something vaguely creepy about the place. Not ikea creepy, but creepy all teh same.
Great place to buy cheap aloha wear though.
2. Posted by elvis on April 28, 2008
Don't worlds always collide at WalMart? How else would the aisles get that heaped up with cheap crap?
3. Posted by Omnipotent Poobah on April 28, 2008
WalMart should only be experienced late at night
I tend to do most routine grocery shopping around 9 pm. No inattentive cagers turning corners too fast while driving in the middle of the lane, and I can do my crazy OCD produce shopping in peace.
I can't ay I've ever been in a wal-mart outside of Hawaii...Great place to buy cheap aloha wear though.
That's where my mom and dad buy theirs. Hilo Hattie's kind of sucks these days.
Don't worlds always collide at WalMart? How else would the aisles get that heaped up with cheap crap?
True, dat. And at least it's brazenly honest cheap crap, unlike the tarted up cheap crap at IKEA. I bought a rather expensive dresser there and it's falling apart now. Never again.
4. Posted by Hiromi on April 28, 2008
I've found Wal-Marts in urban settings quite different from rural small towns. In my small hometown in MS it's a pleasure to shop there. Always someone to help you out, no shortages and everybody's nice. In New Orleans, not so much but I shop there regularly because it's hard to beat the prices. I prefer shopping locally but, in the grand scheme of things, I have to be practical.
Being unable to relate is certainly not a sin. Diversity is what makes the world go round and people have very different life experiences.
You don't look down on Wal-Mart shoppers and that makes you a thoughtful, enlightened human being. Unfortunately, there are way more pretentious, arrogant assholes than enlightened beings. :)
5. Posted by charlotte on April 28, 2008
I prefer shopping locally but, in the grand scheme of things, I have to be practical.
Exactly. Same here. I'd love to be able to always support local independent businesses or places where I know they treat their employees well, etc., etc., but it takes more money (and time) than I have to be able to do that consistently. And if I had children, I'd really need a quick, cheap place to buy things in bulk.
It's a real shame that conscience is often a luxury. Something ain't right with the world, if that's how things are.
6. Posted by Hiromi on April 28, 2008
We also only do WalMart late at night. Our last trip was at 1:30 am. But I only average 2-3 visits a year - this one was for a lamp exactly like the one I bought 3 years ago there (for $25! I broke it when I was changing the light bulb and the cat spooked me). The previous one was for a toy Mike wanted that was only available there before Christmas.
(Drop me an email if you're going to be in Houston again before you leave, and we'll do tortillas!)
7. Posted by Tina Marie on April 29, 2008
Large plastic icecream containers make good oil trays. Which is your prefered pre-oilchange preparation: eating icecream, or visiting Walmart?
Plus afterwards you can just throw an oily icecream container in the trash, while with a bought tray you'll feel obliged to clean and keep it. You did, didn't you?
Not sure where the set 'adaptible improvisors' goes on that diagram.
8. Posted by exbiker on April 29, 2008
I try and support local business people; the higher cost is usually offset by the price of fuel. by the way I just purchased a new bike, a leftover 2003 suzuki sv 1000 with 0 miles to replace my crashed dl 1000 so i'm a happy guy.
9. Posted by gene on April 29, 2008
Lord, I can't remember how many blog entries I've written on the subject of Wal-Mart. And although I hate going there, for the very same reasons you cite, I do go when visiting family in Virginia because I don't have piles of money but do have two small boys to raise. Thankfully, New York City hasn't bowed at the Wal-Mart altar yet. Still, we do have a Target in Brooklyn. I've always considered Target a step or two above Wal-Mart, but it still induces a certain "cringe factor" not unlike the way one feels when saying hello to Wal-Mart's septuagenarian greeters. (I always wonder why someone that old is still working - and in a place like Wal-Mart. And then I remember that this is America, where increasing numbers of the elderly can't afford to retire.)
10. Posted by Brian on April 30, 2008
Tina, I really ought to visit y'all next month. I'll drop you a line.
You did, didn't you?
did what? Keep the pan? Yeah, that's why I bought one -- I'm going to use it over and over.
Still, we do have a Target in Brooklyn.
Generally, if I'm in absolute need of cheap shit, I go to Target. It *is* superior to WalMart, although it also has that horrid popcorn smell.
11. Posted by Hiromi on April 30, 2008
I, too, have succumed to the Sam Walton evil empire recently. We received a one-day pass to Sam's Club, so I said "What the heck? One visit can't be that bad." Famous last words. I found that if I buy my allergy medicine there, I can save almost double the price of membership there in a year's time as compared to the price at the local chain drugstore. Add on the savings in buying gas there, I don't even need to buy anything else there to save a bunch of money. But ... I coudn't resist the double box of Cheerios, the big pack of bar soap, the eight-pack of canned beans, the thirty-two pack of AA batteries, etc. I'm not happy spending money there, but I'm happy saving money. Argh!
12. Posted by SheenV on May 1, 2008