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09-10-2009, 09:10 AM
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#21
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gone traveling
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 3,864
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelB
That website is a modern American Gothic
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triste pero verdad.
Press 1 for English...
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09-10-2009, 09:13 AM
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#22
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
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I loathe the place but grudgingly give them what amounts to a dozen times a third world slave laborer's salary every week for all of our groceries, household items, toiletries, prescriptions, medicine, pet supplies, auto supplies, hardware, etc. It is so easy and convenient when lugging two young kids around to not have to shop at more than one store and still get 99% of what you need.
I feel good knowing that I am helping support a starving hard working citizen of some developing nation to feed their malnourished hungry kids. It allows them to avoid fates such as starving to death, farming a rice field for 14 hours a day, or starving to death. I'd rather they get paid to make cheap plastic crap in a factory versus pay some pompous self righteous full of themselves unionized laborer to manufacture the same plastic crap here in the US at 10 or 100x the price (and worse quality).
I see plenty of mom and pop's around our walmarts. Local family owned authentic ethnic restaurants, a family friends' vietnamese grocery store (they are really Laotian but don't tell anyone), local barbershop, etc. And for you folks that are too good to mix with the plebes at walmart, most of those folks are just scraping by and try to save every penny they can. Walmart has brought down prices to a level where more stuff is more affordable for everyone.
By the way, I think we should add "love/hate walmart" to the list consisting of "is 4% SWR accurate", "pay off mortgage early?", and "market time/passive portfolio or active/index funds".
Regarding the OP's pictures - I saw those the other day and it was good for a laugh. Luckily I only see a couple of those on our weekly walmart visits.
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09-10-2009, 09:14 AM
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#23
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Collin County, TX
Posts: 9,296
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Westernskies
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I can't decide between the two....
__________________
There's no need to complicate, our time is short..
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09-10-2009, 10:32 AM
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#24
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,323
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That DOES look like my Walmart! I never go after 6 pm as I don't feel like carrying the mace I feel I would need to protect myself. The place has nobody with a full set of teeth after 6 pm.......or else that's the time the trailer park beings it's people over to Walmart to shop. It's rough here..really rough.
__________________
Please consider adopting a rescue animal. So very many need a furr-ever home and someone to love them! And if we all spay/neuter our pets there won't be an overpopulation to put to death.
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09-10-2009, 10:39 AM
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#25
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 13,566
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FUEGO
And for you folks that are too good to mix with the plebes at walmart, most of those folks are just scraping by and try to save every penny they can.
By the way, I think we should add "love/hate walmart" to the list consisting of "is 4% SWR accurate", "pay off mortgage early?", and "market time/passive portfolio or active/index funds".
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Yes, and yes.
I am definitely too good to mix with the GP at Walmart.
But now I have a reason to go--just in case I can see a good example of the none-too-rare femullet.
__________________
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.”
Gerard Arthur Way
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09-10-2009, 11:09 AM
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#26
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Nowhere, 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 9,037
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarah in SC
Yes, and yes.
I am definitely too good to mix with the GP at Walmart.
But now I have a reason to go--just in case I can see a good example of the none-too-rare femullet.
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I had to look up femullet.
I need to get out more. At least I think I do...
__________________
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney
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09-10-2009, 11:23 AM
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#27
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 12,901
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I happen to go to Walmart 2-3 times a month. Many of my friends would not want to be caught dead at Walmart and avoid the place like the plague. I really do not see Walmart the way many people seem to do here. Walmart provides well needed jobs and affordable services for many people who need them. There is nothing wrong with that. I think the question should be, why is it that so many people can only afford to shop at Walmart? Now that's a worthy debate IMO.
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09-10-2009, 11:55 AM
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#29
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Gone but not forgotten
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Sarasota,fl.
Posts: 11,447
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Every time I go to Walmart (and it is not often ) I feel like I'd like to start a show called "What not to put in your shopping cart " . When I see these carts piled high with twinkies ,uncrustables , sponge cakes and no veggies I want to scream especially since the people pushing the carts look so unhealthy .
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09-10-2009, 12:30 PM
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#30
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Nowhere, 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 9,037
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CuppaJoe
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Oh Ok, I've seen this............<drum roll>....no kidding, on a cashier at WM.
dh2b drags me to WM once in a while. But he pays heavily for the privilege.
__________________
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney
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09-10-2009, 12:36 PM
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#31
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 4,764
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FUEGO
I loathe the place but grudgingly give them what amounts to a dozen times a third world slave laborer's salary every week for all of our groceries, household items, toiletries, prescriptions, medicine, pet supplies, auto supplies, hardware, etc. It is so easy and convenient when lugging two young kids around to not have to shop at more than one store and still get 99% of what you need.
I feel good knowing that I am helping support a starving hard working citizen of some developing nation to feed their malnourished hungry kids. It allows them to avoid fates such as starving to death, farming a rice field for 14 hours a day, or starving to death. I'd rather they get paid to make cheap plastic crap in a factory versus pay some pompous self righteous full of themselves unionized laborer to manufacture the same plastic crap here in the US at 10 or 100x the price (and worse quality).
I see plenty of mom and pop's around our walmarts. Local family owned authentic ethnic restaurants, a family friends' vietnamese grocery store (they are really Laotian but don't tell anyone), local barbershop, etc. And for you folks that are too good to mix with the plebes at walmart, most of those folks are just scraping by and try to save every penny they can. Walmart has brought down prices to a level where more stuff is more affordable for everyone.
By the way, I think we should add "love/hate walmart" to the list consisting of "is 4% SWR accurate", "pay off mortgage early?", and "market time/passive portfolio or active/index funds".
Regarding the OP's pictures - I saw those the other day and it was good for a laugh. Luckily I only see a couple of those on our weekly walmart visits.
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I never realized it was such a hot button issue. Till I read the posts here. Slave labor to femullets..
reminds me of this.
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09-10-2009, 12:58 PM
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#32
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gone traveling
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 3,864
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FUEGO
I feel good knowing that I am helping support a starving hard working citizen of some developing nation to feed their malnourished hungry kids. It allows them to avoid fates such as starving to death, farming a rice field for 14 hours a day, or starving to death. I'd rather they get paid to make cheap plastic crap in a factory versus pay some pompous self righteous full of themselves unionized laborer to manufacture the same plastic crap here in the US at 10 or 100x the price (and worse quality).
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Did you ever stop and think about who is picking up the tab for the social costs of our current economic slowdown? One clue- it sure as hell isn't Save the Children.
Sep 4, 2009, 10:35 a.m. EST
U.S. unemployment rate jumps to 26-year high of 9.7%
Nonfarm payrolls fall 216,000 in August, 20th consecutive monthly decline
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to a 26-year high of 9.7% in August as nonfarm payrolls fell by 216,000, the 20th consecutive monthly decline, the Labor Department estimated Friday.
U.S. payrolls have dropped by 6.9 million to a total of 131.2 million since the recession began in December 2007, the government data showed. Unemployment has increased by 7.4 million during the recession to stand at 14.9 million.
"Joblessness continues to mount, which will only make it harder for households to repay debt and build savings, thereby impeding a consumer-led recovery," wrote Sal Guatieri, senior economist for BMO Capital Markets.
The 216,000 decline in payrolls was close to market expectations of a 233,000 drop, but the unemployment rate rose higher than the 9.5% level expected. The unemployment rate was 9.4% in July. See Economic Calendar.
It was the smallest decline in payrolls since August 2008.
Payrolls declined an upwardly revised 276,000 in July. In June and July, payroll losses were revised up by 49,000. Read the full government report.
Payroll losses have moderated in most industries in the past two months after severe declines earlier in the year. In the past three months, payroll losses have averaged 318,000 per month, compared with 491,000 in the previous three-month period.
Although payroll losses have moderated, the loss rate in the past three months is as bad as it was at the worst of the 1980 and 1982 recessions, said Charles Dumas, an economist for Lombard Street Research. "You have to have faith to think that job losses at the worst rate of 1980 and 1982 are consistent with level to growing GDP," Dumas said.
Economist Robert Brusca said the trend is favorable, adding that he couldn't understand the pessimism of so many observers. "I feel like a parent locked in a car with a little kid screaming " DADDY! ARE WE THERE YET?"
Many economists think the unemployment rate will top out near 10%, late this year or early next year. "What really matters is when payrolls and the jobless rate will turn, and we still believe that the timeframe on both is soon, probably sooner than most other forecasters expect," wrote Stephen Stanley, chief economist for RBS Securities.
Details of the August report were generally weak, however.
Payrolls fell in most sectors of the economy except for health care. Total hours worked in the economy dropped by 0.3%, long-term unemployment worsened, and the number of people working just part time who wanted full-time work reached 9.1 million, up 278,000.
The number of people who've been out of work longer than six months nudged up to 5 million, representing about one-third of the unemployed.
An alternative measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those forced to resort to part-time work rose to 16.8% from 16.3%, marking the highest on record dating back to 1995.
Average hourly earnings on the month rose 6 cents, or 0.3%, to $18.65 an hour. In the past year, average hourly earnings are up 2.6%.
Enjoy the freak show shopping at your local WalMart, and please remember your role in why many of those folks are in that predicament.
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09-10-2009, 12:59 PM
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#33
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gone traveling
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 3,864
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bbbamI
I can't decide between the two....
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hmmm, me, either. What are our other choices?
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09-10-2009, 01:07 PM
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#34
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Austin
Posts: 1,142
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I'm gonna regret this but...
A NYT article: Workers Assail Night Lock-Ins by Wal-Mart
Workers Assail Night Lock-Ins by Wal-Mart - The New York Times
Quote:
Mr. Cobb said the Wal-Mart rule that generally prohibits employees from working more than 40 hours a week to avoid paying overtime played out in strange ways for night-shift employees. Mr. Cobb said that on many workers' fifth work day of the week, they would approach the 40-hour mark and then clock out, usually around 1 a.m. They would then have to sit around, napping, playing cards or watching television, until a manager arrived at 6 a.m.
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09-10-2009, 01:11 PM
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#35
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,340
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Orchidflower
That DOES look like my Walmart!
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I swear some of them are from around here. One of the things that was hard to get used to was the 50-year-old 300 lb. women wearing tattoos and tank tops. Eeewwww.
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
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09-10-2009, 03:08 PM
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#36
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
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Wait a sec! I thought you were a free market conservative leaning stand up guy? Are you saying you are opposed to economic liberalism, foreign trade, etc?
The folks I see at walmart are much better off than some relatives and family friends starving to death in developing nations and working the rice paddies 14 hrs a day. It puts a smile on my face to know that the folks lining up to work in a "sweatshop" are actually avoiding a much worse fate, and are actually glad to have the job and the opportunity. And I get cheap stuff.
I don't really feel any obligation to pay more for stuff just to support an inefficient and suboptimal means of production. At least not with my dollars. You, of course, are free to choose what you do with your dollars. Just don't infringe on my rights to spend my money on things as I see fit. (that flower was produced by exploited sweatshop labor, so be careful if you accept it! )
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09-10-2009, 07:53 PM
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#37
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 176
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The funny thing about Walmart is some of the cons they run...
$4 generic drugs. Before Walmart started this "deal" some generics cost as little as $1.50. They haven't lowered the price, they've averaged it out and made it into a huge marketing campaign.
Cheap meat... packaged in sealed plastic with nitrogen so it stays red longer. Doesn't mean it stays fresh... just red.
In the motor oil section... one of the major name brands is about $3 less for 5 quarts than the local Autozone. But look closely.... the packages are almost the same except the Autozone package is 5.47 quarts!
The sandwich meats section is almost exclusively Oscar Myer now. The Kroger and Publix down the street have about a dozen brands and the prices are better... except on Oscar Myer.
My wife and I did some serious price comparisons a few months back. Our grocery bills are about 30% less at Aldi -- the selection is poor and we get the remainder at Ingles (for less than Walmart).
Walmart has a lot of loss leader stuff... but in total we do better shopping elsewhere.
Same thing with our Ace Hardware. Sure mailboxes and other big ticket items which people notice cost more than they do at Home Depot... but nuts, bolts, nails and lot of things which are really "hardware" are less.
Fruits and veggies... the quality just plain sucks at Walmart - and most of it seems to be labeled as coming from South America where they don't have very high standards for pesticide use.
Tools.... sure they are cheaper at Walmart, but I prefer to buy a tool once that last a lifetime rather than something that breaks or bends the first time you really torque down on it. Try getting a cheap thick walled Walmart socket on a bolt in a tight place - better to have higher quality tools that are stronger with thinner socket walls due to better steel.
The soft drinks isle at the local Walmart is 90% name brand with one small set of shelves holding the Walmart brand, which is often out of product. The Kroger and Publix soft drink isles are about 30% store brands.
On the rare occasion I buy name brand canned or packaged groceries I use a coupons. Ingles doubles the coupons, Walmart doesn't.
The thing about Walmart is some the prices are rock bottom but the quality is so poor that the total cost of ownership is often higher. Clothing comes to mind. I'd rather pay a little more and get far better quality at Target.
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09-10-2009, 08:11 PM
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#38
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 4,764
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"Cheap meat... packaged in sealed plastic with nitrogen so it stays red longer. Doesn't mean it stays fresh... just red."
You really think this is a Walmart invention? Come on so does any other grocery store. Like any other store you need to pick the scams from the deals. Walmart is no different.
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09-10-2009, 08:13 PM
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#39
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Collin County, TX
Posts: 9,296
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I kissed a tissue and was going to post a pic of my lips, but the image shown was HUGE! Can't do that one...
I guess I'll keep my boots on....
__________________
There's no need to complicate, our time is short..
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09-10-2009, 08:24 PM
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#40
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,596
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bbbamI
I guess I'll keep my boots on....
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Yeah, but are you gonna leave your hat on?
[warning: might not be appropriate for workplace viewing - another reason why ER makes so much sense]
__________________
I purr therefore I am.
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