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Hercules vs. WalMart

I have to wonder, if the average salary really is $90,000, why Walmart thinks anyone would shop there. Novelty? For kicks, to see how the poor people live, then off for champagne oysters over duck at the country club? "Chip and I went to this 'the Wall Mart' to see what it was like. Oh, Buffy, it was most amusing! Apparently you can make things out of plastic! Ha ha ha ha. Pass the caviar en flambe."

I hope Walmart wins. Why? Because I'm a petty, jealous monkey, who hates people who make that much more money than I do. I hope Walmart and all the dollar stores and all the trashiest retail places imaginable open up there and crap up their town. I hope poor people drive for miles to paw through bins at Value City because, as everyone who makes less than $90,000 knows, you can find some good stuff at Value City "but you got to dig".
 
Mrs. Shemp and I have combined annual earnings of about $95,000 (before the government rapes our paychecks). We do not eat "caviar en flambe" (I don't think even Bill Gates eats "flaming fish eggs"), and we do purchase items made out of plastic. However, we do NOT shop at Walmart, due to Mrs. Shemp being even more of a flaming liberal (but not with fish eggs) than I am. I don't consider us rich in any monetary sense of the word. We scrimp and save so that we can afford to have a retirement that doesn't consist of eating beans out of a can three times a day, or maybe even worse.

I'm sure that $90,000/year average covers a lot of ground. There are probably plenty of people in town who have little choice but to shop at Walmart. I don't like Walmart, but they have a right to exist, and people have a right to choose whether or not they will shop there. If the majority of townspeople want to block construction, and have a legal means of doing so, then that's OK.
 
Why did the picture of a crappy Italian movie starring Steve Reeves spring into my mind when I read the title of this thread? And how do I get it out?
 
Hutch said:
Why did the picture of a crappy Italian movie starring Steve Reeves spring into my mind when I read the title of this thread? And how do I get it out?
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You too? :eek:

What I did was put Steve Reeves and his Hercules getup into a mental picture with Rosie O'Donnell in a thong, then switched the heads.

My brain froze up and I had to reboot and everything was okay after that.
 
clarsct said:
http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_006154843.html
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From the linked story:
"The presence of a Wal-Mart could serve as a 'barrier' to those customers seeking a higher-end, more specialized type of retail," the report said.
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Please, spare me your righteous indignation, people.

Hercules is 25 miles NE of San Francisco. Contrary to what the story might have you believe, it is not some isolated little village where the presence of a Wal-Mart would deprive its residents of access to any other shopping. It's part of the suburban sprawl that extends out of the Bay area. Don't believe me? Google map "Hercules, CA" and see what you get. Then look at the satellite photo of the area.

The Hilltop Regional Shopping Center is about 9 miles away - less than half the distance I drive to work every day.

This is just limosine liberal outrage that someone would dare put something as (echh) middle-class as a (shudder) Wal-Mart near them. "My God, if we let a Wal-Mart in, soon they might let undesireables (and you know who they are) move in next door, too!"

TM, can you head over there and fling some monkey poo at them? Sounds like they need it.
 
Here in Atlanta, in the last few years we've had Wal-Marts defeated both in rich neighborhoods (Avondale Estates) and in out-of-the-way semi-rural ones (Acworth, Lake Allatoona). It's not really a rich or poor issue anymore; they lower the quality of life for everyone.
 
hh-dragon said:
It's not really a rich or poor issue anymore; they lower the quality of life for everyone.
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How? There are two Wal-Marts within ten miles of my house. Hasn't stopped home values (and property taxes - :mad:) from appreciating dramatically here over the last five years.

"You and Mrs. BPSCG live near two Wal-Marts? Oh, you poor dears. How can you stand it?"
 
shemp said:
Mrs. Shemp and I have combined annual earnings of about $95,000 (before the government rapes our paychecks). We do not eat "caviar en flambe" (I don't think even Bill Gates eats "flaming fish eggs"), and we do purchase items made out of plastic. However, we do NOT shop at Walmart, due to Mrs. Shemp being even more of a flaming liberal (but not with fish eggs) than I am. I don't consider us rich in any monetary sense of the word. We scrimp and save so that we can afford to have a retirement that doesn't consist of eating beans out of a can three times a day, or maybe even worse.

I'm sure that $90,000/year average covers a lot of ground. There are probably plenty of people in town who have little choice but to shop at Walmart. I don't like Walmart, but they have a right to exist, and people have a right to choose whether or not they will shop there. If the majority of townspeople want to block construction, and have a legal means of doing so, then that's OK.
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I hate to be picky, but in both instances where the article was referring to wages it referred to individual, not household wages. Sure, my wife and I have a six figure HOUSEHOLD income, but not individually. And yes, we shop at Walmart (my wife hates it, but only for the crowds.)

Aaron

P.S. For the record and full discloser, Walmart is one of my heros.
 
I can tell you what I've bought at WallMart.

One small stereo for my mom.
One air conditioner for my mom.
Both items were bought around Youngstown, which has no other retailers remaining to speak of.
Three cases of bottled water (bought on the way across the country on a 3-week trip in the middle of a heat wave).

There, you have it.
 
I liked walmart when kmart was still a resonable competitor. Now that they are not, the store has gone downhill quickly -- shelves aclutter, poor customer service, limited product variability, too-narrow isles, long check-out lines, etc.

I shop at the more expensive but much better stocked/organized Target.
 
hh-dragon said:
Here in Atlanta, in the last few years we've had Wal-Marts defeated both in rich neighborhoods.
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I don't care if it's Walmart, a porn store or a church. I hate to see yet another abuse of eminent domain.

hh-dragon said:
It's not really a rich or poor issue anymore; they lower the quality of life for everyone.
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You're right that it's not a rich poor issue. Thieving local governments can now steal land from anyone- not just the poor and middle class. I hope Walmart wins. Even if they lose, I hope the court costs and repurchase of the land bankrupt the town.
 
HeavyAaron said:
I hate to be picky, but in both instances where the article was referring to wages it referred to individual, not household wages. Sure, my wife and I have a six figure HOUSEHOLD income, but not individually. And yes, we shop at Walmart (my wife hates it, but only for the crowds.)

Aaron

P.S. For the record and full discloser, Walmart is one of my heros.
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Thank you. Now that we are poor, Mrs. Shemp and I will shop at Walmart.
 
BPSCG said:
What I did was put Steve Reeves and his Hercules getup into a mental picture with Rosie O'Donnell in a thong, then switched the heads.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH! AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH, FOR THE LOVE OF JEBUS, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*collapses, twitching, on the floor*
 
Rob Lister said:
I liked walmart when kmart was still a resonable competitor. Now that they are not, the store has gone downhill quickly -- shelves aclutter, poor customer service, limited product variability, too-narrow isles, long check-out lines, etc.

I shop at the more expensive but much better stocked/organized Target.
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I admired Sam Walton, and I admire Wal-Mart as a company.

However, I never shop there for the reasons you mention, and because they seem to draw a lot of....ummmm...trailer trash. And I don't want to be around trailer trash. So I pay more to shop at Target or elsewhere.
 
shemp said:
Mrs. Shemp and I have combined annual earnings of about $95,000 (before the government rapes our paychecks). We do not eat "caviar en flambe" (I don't think even Bill Gates eats "flaming fish eggs"), and we do purchase items made out of plastic.
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I think that that amount referred to individual salaries, not combined. My husband and I earn more than that combined, too, and we are far from rich. But if we made that much EACH...
shemp said:
However, we do NOT shop at Walmart, due to Mrs. Shemp being even more of a flaming liberal (but not with fish eggs) than I am.
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Me, too. Congrats to Mrs. Shemp!!! (I shopped there for years, justifying it because the prices were just so darned low, but my conscience finally overcome my frugality a couple of years ago, and I haven't set foot in one since.)
 
hh-dragon said:
It's not really a rich or poor issue anymore; they lower the quality of life for everyone.
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How so? I live very close to a Wal-Mart and I cannot say that my quality of life has been impacted either way. It's a store, like any other store. The only noticable difference now that the Wal-Mart near my house opened (last November) is things like the other day when I needed to buy some new yard tools, I only had to drive 3 miles to the Wal-Mart instead of clear across town to Lowe's. Not a major change in my quality of life.

So how does having a Wal-Mart around lower one's quality of life?
 
Nyarlathotep said:
How so? I live very close to a Wal-Mart and I cannot say that my quality of life has been impacted either way. It's a store, like any other store. The only noticable difference now that the Wal-Mart near my house opened (last November) is things like the other day when I needed to buy some new yard tools, I only had to drive 3 miles to the Wal-Mart instead of clear across town to Lowe's. Not a major change in my quality of life.

So how does having a Wal-Mart around lower one's quality of life?
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I think he's counting the quality of life in miles.
 
wolfgirl said:
I think that that amount referred to individual salaries, not combined. My husband and I earn more than that combined, too, and we are far from rich. But if we made that much EACH...Me, too. Congrats to Mrs. Shemp!!! (I shopped there for years, justifying it because the prices were just so darned low, but my conscience finally overcome my frugality a couple of years ago, and I haven't set foot in one since.)
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Careful, I received flack for pointing this very thing out to Shemp.

Aaron
 
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