Posts Tagged ‘Wal-Mart’

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday in the sense that it is built around the whole idea of gratitude.

If there is one thing missing most in society today, it is gratitude, true gratitude. Not the kind like, “I’m so thankful that Wal-Mart has this awesome sale.” (That was the gratitude on display late Thanksgiving night when I ran to the nearby 24-hour Super Wal-Mart and there were lines of people waiting for the clock to strike midnight to officially kick off the post-Thanksgiving sales.)

Gratitude, in its purest sense, is recognizing that all that we have is a gift from God.

I’ve been highly distracted the last couple days.  Just thought you should know.

So at dinner I ask my 7 yr-old daughter what she thinks it means to be tolerant.  My wife leans over and whispers something in her ear.  Daughter responds, “Taller than an ant.”  Now that’s funny.

I’m a Diamondbacks season ticket holder and I have yet to step foot in Chase Field this season.  There is something very wrong with this picture.  And there is a certain amount of irony to why I’ve been too busy and too out of town to do so.

Wal-Mart announced that it is joining with the Service Employees International Union in support of an employer mandate to provide health insurance coverage.  For one thing, doing anything with SEIU (I actually refer to it as SUIE – as in sooooweee! Like when you are calling the pigs since SEIU leadership is like a bunch of hogs at the trough of forced union dues) is a recipe for disaster.  Does Wal-Mart actually believe that SEIU won’t try to unionize them in exchange for supporting bad policy on health care?  Think again.  Sam Walton is turning in his grave.  Tevi Troy has a good take on it here.

There are a lot of flowers in our house as a result of my 15 yr-old daughter’s spinal surgery.  When they are a few days old, they really start to smell the opposite of what they are supposed to – but they’re still pretty, so I don’t want to throw them out yet.

Given the distractions, my daughter’s surgery and my schedule for the last week, I have paid zero attention to the Arizona budget fight between the Legislature and the Governor, so I don’t know what to think.

You see a story like this one, about Wal-Mart opening targeting a specifically Hispanic clientele, and the first thing that comes to mind is “Why didn’t they do that before?”

At least, that was my reaction.  Bashas’ has done it for years under the Food City banner and there have been a number of different chains that have catered to Hispanics.  Given Wal-Mart’s market share, you’d think they would have done this long ago.

So, it opens today – and my guess is that it is going to blow expectations out of the water.  Wal-Mart is a great store – it’s got everything.  I know there are a bunch of Wal-Mart bashers out there – whether you are a union supporter or a shopping snob – but at the end of the day they are good at what they do – sell a lot of stuff at affordable prices.

That will be the same with the new store at 89^th Ave and Thomas… and it should be.

Viva la Wal-Mart!

(I don’t know if that is correct Spanish grammar – my high school Spanish teacher, Mr. Allen, would be horrified if he knew how little I actually learned and retained.)