If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you may remember me dropping some references to my general disdain with the corporate giant bully that is Wal-Mart. Well….I’m kind of ashamed to say this but….
I went to Wal-Mart last weekend.
It was the first time I’d been in five years since I first boycotted it. I say boycotted, even though it’s only a one person boycott….that still counts right? Oh…and let me just pause to say that I do not judge other people who shop at Wal-Mart. At least not most people. It’s hard not to judge some of the people I’ve seen on the People of Wal-Mart site….but I still try… I’m sure they’re really nice people. But really…..did you really just wear that out in public????
One of my beefs with Wal-Mart is that they are WAY too big and I also hate when they put giant ugly Wal-Marts in little towns or smack dab in the middle of beautiful scenic areas….like this one we saw on our honeymoon in Whistler B.C. :
Anyway….I’m getting off track. The reason we went was because we were about half an hour into our road trip when I realized I didn’t have any more motion sickness tablets (I actually carry these in my purse because I get car sick so easily). Anyway, I was out and I wanted to stop, but Craig didn’t want to stop until we found a place where we could get bullets (for the skeet shooting we never ended up doing).
Well….the only place I could think of where we could get both pharmeceuticals AND ammunition at the same time was….you guessed it….Wal-Mart. Ugh!
As we walked through the automatic doors of the entrance,
Craig teased me saying:
“Check your morals at the door.”
I didn’t laugh.
Craig got bullets and I got my motion sickness tablets, but I couldn’t leave without taking notice of just how many services a “Super” Wal-Mart offers. It’s kind of incredible….you’d pretty much never have to leave (which I’m pretty sure is the goal). If you were so inclined you could do the following at your local neighborhood Wal-Mart:
*Eat a Big Mac at McDonald’s.
*Buy groceries.
*Buy camping gear.
*Buy a “Shamwow!”
*Buy fabric and other craft supplies.
*Buy ammo.
*Get a haircut.
*Get your nails did.
*Play videogames at the arcade.
*Get your photo taken with a soft billowy background.
Who knew???
And as I was passing through I took a quick peek through some of the other sections and was amazed by how cheap everything was. I understand why people shop there, and now I’m sort of tempted to do so myself. BUT….I’m going to hold strong to my convictions. I’m not very opinionated about a lot of things, but this is one little thing…silly as it may be.
Do you guys have any random
“convictions”/opinions?
Places you won’t shop?
Things you won’t eat?
Etc…
Simply on principle?
I’d love to hear!
Yay for Thursday, almost Friday!
xo
{Lauren}
OH…and I promise tomorrow will be Fill in the Blank Friday!
i refuse to step foot in a Abercrombie or Hollister store.
they only cater to women who are like 000 and i hate hearing loud techno when i shop…
not to mention the smells in there are really fake
its like “you smell that? its hollister which reminds me a need a $200 hoodie”
the only reason i ever step close to an Abercrombie is when they have the shirtless models standing out front in santa hats and red boxers during christmas haha
This post really cracked me up.
– I don’t eat meat because, well, you know
– I refuse to eat at KFC because I think it’s dirty, even though I will order a cheeseburger with no meat and lettuce from Mcdonalds or Burger King
– I won’t go to Starbucks because of, well, you know,but will go to Mcdonalds.
Doesn’t make sense!!!!! I’m such a hypocrite!
But yeah I totally get you.
I have the exact same “boycott” against Wal-Mart. I can understand why people go, I don’t hold it against people who do go…but I won’t. I can’t, and it won’t change.
The only thing I can think of is that I refuse to eat at Hooters. I have friends that work at some of them, I know it’s not some big whorehouse, apparently their wings are actually decent; but I just…can’t.
I’ve never thought about this before. Maybe, it makes me unconscious of so many important things!
-Nahl
I hate to shop in New Yorker or an shop we have here called ” Kaufland”. I just don´t like the atmosphere.
wow, walmart. i dread going there but its really one of the main grocery stores in my town. the closet walmart/mall/movie theater is an hour away from my parents. my dad has crazy add in walmart. bonus: they have cute miley cyrus vneck slub tees!
I won’t shop at the walmart where I live. And most others. Not because I’m against them, but because they creep me out and make me panic a little. I don’t like that EVERYTHING is available there. And the one where I live is SUPER dirty. Like you’d want to shower after just walking in the doors kind of dirty.
I try to avoid walmart as much as I possibly can, but with my not so extensive college person budget, it is difficult.
I have a radio station near me that i have been recently protesting- Have you ever heard the song I’m awesome by Spose- ugh well look up the lyrics but don’t listen to its. It very degrading to disabled people. Well I called and complained and they were so rude – so I told them I wouldn’t listen until they started caring about people and developed some empathy over ratings.
http://imperfectobsession.blogspot.com/
Amoree
Oh Wal-Mart!! I avoided that place like the plague, but lately I’ve been hearing all this talk on NPR and other reputable sources about how they have started supporting local farmers. What are we supposed to do with that little piece of news?? The closest wal-mart is still 20 minutes from us, and we are die-hard farmer’s market people, so I’m sure my convictions won’t sway. Just something to think about.
As for other convictions – I used to have about a thousand. Now I just have a few – eat vegetarian, buy local as much as possible, try to show love to each person I meet, and live my life as if it’s a work of art. All the rest just falls into place, ya know?
i really enjoy that you said “get your nails did” instead of done. heheh. AND the billowy background reference… did that have anything to do with deb from napoleon dynamite?
i used to have a HUGE conviction about mcdonalds, just the way they have child labor in south america… but then i… i dont know, i guess i just stopped…
Oh gosh. This was too funny. I hate walmart, but what’s a girl to do when it is 3 minutes from her house & the nearest target is 30 minutes & the nearest Whole Foods is at least 20 but a hop on the interstate & the nearest Oak Point (this charming local grocery store) is too far as well! Plus all of those are quite a bit more expensive than Walmart. But i will NOT get produce at Walmart, YUCK.
I live in Baton Rouge, LA & we have TONS of Walmarts, but some are a lot nicer than others. The one by our house? Not so nice. 🙁 And i have definitely seen some ppl there that should be on the People of Walmart site! HA!
We go to the Oak Point on our way home from church b/c it’s on our way, but we usually have to go to Walmart. So convenient. But i totally understand why someone would boycott it!
I wont go to KFC either. I think it’s dumb they ‘advertised’ with Oprah and then couldn’t handle all of the business..therefore couldn’t stick to their word and honor the coupons THEY gave out. Plus they’re ubber dirty!!!!
I don’t/won’t shop Walmart either. And I try to avoid fast food in general. On the other hand, I should be a lot better about patronizing the cute little natural foods store just around the corner from my house, but I usually just run to Freddies instead.
I agree totally. Wal-Mart is not good. We try really hard not to shop there, I think we’ve gone once in 2 years maybe? Anyways, have you seen “The High Cost of Low Prices”? If not you should, it’s really good and makes you realize even more why you shouldn’t shop there. Crazy stuff!
Hope you have a good day!
I will not listen to Chris Brown’s music. I will not ever buy anything from Sear’s again, their customer service SUCKS! I will not shop from Fitness Blowout EVER again. I’m sure they’re are a lot more but those are the only ones I can think of right now.
I really despise Wal-Mart! I refuse to go there!
girl..stay true to your convictions!!!! i realize i’m like some berkeley hippy here, but i try to give as little of my money as possible to GIANT mega corporations (the only places i can’t seem to avoid are gas stations — but hey, i can’t drill for my own oil).
I totally hear you on boycotting Wal-Mart! As the commentor above mentioned, I stopped shopping there (not that I hardly ever went there before!) after seeing “The High Cost of Low Prices”. Sad!!
I also refuse to go into Abercrombie and Hollister because they REEK of perfume and cologne!
I won’t go to Carls Jr. because of their slutty commercials. Make me want your food because it tastes good, not because you’ve got Paris Hilton wearing almost nothing and washing a car in your commercial! I know that me not going there doesn’t hurt their business or anything, but still. Just can’t justify it!
And I totally agree with Gwen about Abercrombie. The uber loud music is so annoying – not to mention the egotistically expensive clothes.
I don’t mind WalMart, but I would rather hit up a Target or Freddies’ for my general shopping needs.
i won’t eat mcdonalds…for a multitude of reasons…three of which are:
1)they put milk in their orange juice.
2)they pack their salads in sugar
3)my friends mom sells juice plus, and as a sales pitch, she saved a happy meal, set it out on a plate in her garage…its been their for 3+ years and has NO mold, NO bugs, NO living creature trying to touch it….not even mold. Therefore, it is not legitimate food, even mold won’t eat it. Mold eats evvvvverything. gross.
I absolutely LOVE that you posted this not only because it made me smile so early in the morning but because it reminded me why I DON’T shop there!! It’s always nice to have someone agree with you. I hate walmart for many reasons and try to avoid it at all times!
I don’t ate meat or anything animal product! Vegan.
I will NOT ate at KFC nor will I let anyone I love, that will listen to me!
I also will not shop at places that sell/ofter REAL fur and leather.
Great post! Happy Thursday
haha you crack me up:) Don’t you get drowsy from motion sickness pills? I’d be out if I took them! I’m glad they work for you.. I should give you mine. I’m not a big fan of walmart but I did get Race an arisoft gun there for Valentines day because I was in Woodburn and heard they had the best deal! I do looove target though and it’s a pretty big store.. I don’t even know if it has better morals? I looove costco the best! I guess I just don’t like walmart because I feel like I don’t fit in and feel kinda dirty afterwards! Last time I was trying to get Race this medicine to um… stop diarrhea (hope he doesn’t read this) and there was a man with the WORST gas in front of me! It figures since that’s the aisle we were on:)
I don’t know if Fridays ever work good for you guys but we’re free the next 2? Or next Saturday after Race’s nephew’s bday we don’t have plans yet. I’m such a planner and love writing things down in my little calendar:)
Have a great day!
Ugh. I HATE HATE HATE Walmart. It’s so DIRTY. I can’t shop at a place where things are just thrown about. It’s so gross.
I also refuse to shop at Abercrombie or Hollister. Because any store that has lighting that dim and cologne that strong has to be wrong. As I’m not paying $70 for a t-shirt that I can get at Target for $10.
And don’t get me started on Starbucks. They are the devil. If I wanted burned coffee I’d burn my own coffee at home.
Don’t give in Lauren! My friends and family give me a hard time (lovingly) but I don’t mind 🙂 My little sister used to call it “the ugly place” when she was 4, and the name just stuck in our family.
hehe oh lo i love you. i haven’t been to Wal-mart in a while. i get very overwhelmed there. and i dunno it is not my favorite place. i am a little too obsessed with Target. not sure why, but i like it better there, and the packaging on all of their things is so adorable. but i hate too when a Walmart will just pop up out of nowhere in a beautiful scenic town, when there is just another one right down the street! what the heck! i hate that it knocks all of the little ma and pa stores out of business. so i am totally with you on that! but i can’t lie, i shope there occasionally because it is so cheap!
loved this post! that people of walmart website is genius!
I am JUST like you – I’ve despised what Wal-Mart is and what they have done to communities for years…BUT with the way the economy has been and some personal misfortune, my husband and I started comparing prices and quality to other stores in our area – QFC, Safeway and Fred Meyer. It’s so hard to admit this…but Wal-Mart has better priced groceries and better quality produce (gasp!) than any of these stores! We go there strickly for groceries and to buy my contacts! I guess you should never say never like I did all those years…haha.
great post lauren! you got everyone fired up!!
i’m glad someone already said mine… i won’t listen to chris brown. sorry buddy, i-m-o your career is over.
i also boycotted wal-mart about five years ago. i always always always try to buy used books too before new. i’m a big meat snob too…. only the highest quality for this girl.
is that really ONE shop only? like only ONE? oh wow that’s big, I dont think we have this kind of this big shops here in Europe, well we do have super stores and Asda in the UK (wich is Wal Mart but I have never been) but this is MASSIVE, dont like it.
and is she wearing her PJ’s? actually it’s ok, im not judging going to the grocery shop in your pj’s but in these particular ones? mmmm… ok
Enjoy your day darling, good post!!
Stay strong, don’t give in! I hate how crowded, loud, and dirty WalMart is. As far as big chain stores go, I like Target. They at least give back to the community.
I despise crocs with a passion!
I don’t care how comfortable they are.
They’re ugly; they don’t offer you any support; they’re awkward.
I could keep going, but I don’t want to bore you.
Hope you’re having a great day.
I don’t like Walmart. That being said, it is the closest “everything store” to my home. We’re in college, we’re on a budget, so yes, I’ll take advantage of the capitalistic monster that is Walmart for my Clorox Wipes and toilet paper.
I will not buy food from there. Too many sketchy practices for me.
I hate the people that shop there (at least in my town.) they’re rude and leave things all over the place making it a more hazardous environment to shop in.
Walmart is a necessary evil. But still pretty evil. haha
also: boyfriend and I refuse to go to Home Depot because of poor service on multiple occasions. Best Buy recently made our shit list as well. I also agree with the girl in front of me who posted about Chris Brown. I didn’t like him before, that music is just not my style, but I am adamantly against playing his music in public places (or in Gap Kids where I used to work, wtf! bad message!) and I would never support anything he did.
Haha! Being in England we dont have Wal Mart, but i am pretty sure i would hate it too!
Coffee shops are something i’m fussy about. Costa and Nero’s are taking over the universe and it is AlMoSt against my religion to go in. I will go in a costa if i’m in London as i dont know where all the little tea rooms are, but in my home town or anywhere else i always look for the locally owned tea room 🙂
I won’t eat veal because baby cows are really cute and it just seems wrong. (though I eat every other kind of meat)
I won’t eat veal because baby cows are cute and it just seems wrong. (I eat all other meat though)
Aw man, Wal-Mart.
To be honest I just got back from Wal-Mart.
I go to Wal-Mart a lot…it is a depressing place to be.
But with my minuscule budget that’s the place to go. I just walked off with protein bars and greek yogurts for a dollar each. Can’t beat that!
I hate to say it but I love Wal-Mart but only the new, nice clean ones. And I dont have any places that I refuse to go for any certain reason but I do have a friend that, 15+ years later, still will not order pizza from a certain place b/c the driver ran over her cat. Kinda funny, not so much for the poor kitty!
I agree about Carl’s Junior; I hate its advertising.
Walmart cannot have any of my money; my Walmart purchases consist of prescriptions (and only because we could use the drive through and not get that i-just-sold-my-soul-to-walmart feeling), but just yesterday my family switched to a local pharmacy. I don’t support Victoria’s Secret, though it makes a good product. I also can’t support any business that uses itself as a platform for politics.
I’m sad to say i totally shop at Wal-Mart. The one they put in by us is a really nice wal-mart and they seem to have more of a selection than smiths or associated foods. It seems like they have more of a selection of natural products for cheaper, so I go.
i’m with you on the wal-mart thing. i don’t like them one bit, and i think they are far too big. i do have to admit though, when i run out of all food and drink items and i need like $150 worth of groceries, i go there because it’s sooo much cheaper than kroger or food lion.
my conviction: i WILL NOT eat chicken or turkey unless it’s organic. contrary to what most people think, it isn’t because they are birds, but in the “factory” type places, they burn the beaks off of baby chicks, causing the chick excruciating pain. i get a lot of eye rolls and “she’s ridiculous” looks, but i’m sorry, i can’t support that torture!
XO!
i’m not a big fan of walmart either, but i think the scariest one i’ve ever been to is in china…”the people of walmart” has nothing on that!
i don’t think there’s really a specific place i avoid but i try not to eat at chains too often, especially when there’s better local places!
p.s.-totally know how you feel with the car sickness! my fam always makes fun of how easily i get motion sickness!
I hate Walmart they have such horrible business standards that I can’t stand to go there but I must admit I go every once in a while just cause it’s close and I’m lazy.
I feel like a hypocrite going to Target sometimes. Especially after I read that some of the cocoa beans for their chocolate is harvested by children.
I also feel a little guilty shopping and eating at chains. My family owns a small business so I try to shop & eat local.
Yes! I refuse to go to Wal-Mart too. Bleh.. many reasons! mostly because I hate that they put so many great small businesses out of business!
But I get really carsick too so I feel your pain…
no don’t do it! i HATE walmart and refuse to go there too. i just hate everything about it (same reasons you gave) and i used to work for a law firm that represented walmart corp in all their lawsuits. the people who run walmart are the greediest, most corrupt, and most UNeducated people i have had the misfortune of meeting. it was a nightmare. stay strong! support the local guys! okay, stepping off my soapbox now…
I love this site! And I love how you can search by state. Although I have to say I’ve been nervous going on there that I was going to see a family member or someone I knew. lol enjoyed reading your blog.
Nicole
http://lettersfromcoco.blogspot.com/
I am SO with you on the Walmart thing! And the main reason is because whenever I can, I support small & independent businesses and Walmart is constantly making things harder for them and putting them out of business! I have some friends that drive for 30 minutes just to get to a Walmart.. some people just love it! haha
I know what you mean. I try really hard to support local businesses. There is a bookstore where I have gotten to know the man who owns it and I try to buy all my books there. I have relationships like that with a lot of businesses but it’s hard when places like walmart offer goods so cheaply and you are trying to save money and so on.
agreed. Wal-Mart is pretty nasty. There was one where I used to live and I pretty much had to shop there unless I wanted to drive an hour to get other needed supplies. I was always fast about what I wanted and just tried to get out ASAP!!
also – that story about the McDonalds happy meal is sooooo nasty. Gross but believable. I never go there. Or really any other fast food place for that matter. There are so many other amazing things I can get just as fast in my town! Yay!
I won’t get gas at Valero. Its tough because they are usually the cheapest but they are huge polluters. They are one of those companies that try to say they do renewable this and green that – but its a big fat lie.
Yup, there are places where I don’t shop. When prices tempt me, I remind myself that very few things are actually cheap. If a store is selling things so inexpensively, then someone is suffering because of it. I’m willing to pay a few extra dollars (or more often, cents) to try to prevent that.
Of course I still shop at Forever 21 and H&M, so….hypocrite!
ugh I hate Walmart and luckily I’ve only been in there a few times. Apparently they treat their employees pretty badly and don’t give them proper rest and lunch breaks. I didn’t know they had so many things..like a nail and hair salon. SO crazy. But there deals are good so I understand why it’s so popular
don’t worry, i’m morally against wal-mart too. unfortunately, i live in a small town and wal-mart is the only place to go for a lot of things. can’t wait till i move back to salt lake and don’t have to go there anymore.
I agree with you on the whole Walmart thing. And, I had no idea you could do all of that there. Hmm, things I won’t do? Some things that I will absolutely not do are …. GIve Up Coffee and Reading your blog, I could never stop both of those things. Much love sweet lady! xo
I think this is the greatest post I have ever read! I boycotted walmart for a while… but then they had a good deal on the camera I wanted…
I hadn’t been there in so long. I couldn’t believe how cheap some of the stuff was. I guess sweatshops paid off for them. UGH
I utterly refuse to refer to tutorials as “tutes.” (Or any other weird and dumb variation of a shortened spelling of the word tutorial.) It is just dumb. And it makes the 30 year old women who use that term sound like they are 17 year old dumb blondes who never went to college and don’t know anything. Just a personal opinion. But I promise we can still be friends if you say “tutes.” That is, of course, if you can forgive me for just calling you a dumb blonde 17 year old and all that other nasty stuff I just said about you.
I can’t stand Walmart. Luckily, the closest ones are over 30 minutes away so I have no reason to go there. I’m a Target kind of girl. 🙂
Also, I refuse to buy L’Oreal products. My aunt (who’s a hairdresser) found out in one of her hair classes that L’Oreal tests their products on animals. So now that she’s shared this with me I just won’t buy it. I know that there are tons of companies that do this so I’m probably a hypocrite but whenever I see their products that’s all I can think about!
It will really sound silly but the most shocking for me is that there is a place where one could easily buy ammunition and pharmaceutical products, well, in one place.
I actually don’t like shopping in big stores (what I consider big here is not even considered a medium sized store in most places), I’d rather overpay 10 cents on everything but be done with my shopping in ten minutes… and there is no need for a car since the store is only a 15 minute walk away, which is nice.
i have the exact same issue with wall-mart. i haven’t been there since i was about 14 and it was on a trip to a lake with my cousins (i’m now 31). wait! i take it back. i went 3 years ago because we adopted a dog who was driven up from kansas to denver and they insisted on meeting us in a wall-mart parking lot. when we got there, we realized we didn’t bring a leash, so we ran in and bought one. so i’ve been twice in my life.
my big issue has to do with the way they treat their employees. their are countless articles on law suits against them that will surely disgust you.
i know that people shop there for the prices, but i figure, so long as i stay out, i won’t know what deals i am missing.
ah so funny!!!
my favorite {if you watched kell on earth on bravo} was when her daughter was talking to her grandmother who was on her way to wal mart and the little girl was like “i can’t believe she is going to wal mart. the enemy of target” haha it was so adorable.. she was like 6!!
but i still can’t believe ALL the things you can get at walmart. at mine there is a pet grooming station. haha!
Oh my gosh! I NEVER shop at Wal-Mart and I’m working on my family, too! I hate it so much.
oh walmart… they aren’t so bad in college towns, but still have the questionables.. ours doesn’t have an arcade or a mcdonalds, but it has a subway!
ugh, i hate Wal-Mart! my sister has been trying to convince me to start grocery shopping there cause it’s so cheap, but i just. can’t. do. it.
I feel the EXACT same way you do towards Walmart. I want to support local business’s, buy local save the little small stores. I will pay extra, but I don’t care if it is going to a family instead of a giant billion dollar franchise like Walmart. I dislike them mucho, I have not shopped in one in a lonnnnnng time. Milk in one aisle, sock in the next… Creepy. It was so sad when they put up the Walmart in Squamish, the one you took a picture of, my sister in law was right there front and center trying to stop it, but…. as you see Whistler/Squamish was ruined.
That is what I love living in my little town. No Walmart near me!!!
Bravo for speaking up Lauren!
I’ve been to a walmart 3 times in 9 years. That’s enough for me. Growing up, our small town had one place to shop. Walmart. I had my fill then. Hello Target.
Like Lindsay above me, I try to avoid Walmart in favor of Target. I hate how they treat their employees, how they treat their customers, how they treat basically everyone. So no, I do not shop Walmart. Kudos for speaking out against them.
If you’ve ever read my blog, you know that I HATE walmart more than anything. Here’s the thing about it being cheap…it is. On the surface. But then they slowly raise stuff and rip you off. People don’t check because they just assume it’s cheapest. But it’s not. Also, I’m impressed that they had your tablets. They NEVER have what I need. Ever. I freaking hate it. Ooh, I get mad just thinking about that hole that I call Hell.
If you’ve ever read my blog, you know that I HATE walmart more than anything. Here’s the thing about it being cheap…it is. On the surface. But then they slowly raise stuff and rip you off. People don’t check because they just assume it’s cheapest. But it’s not. Also, I’m impressed that they had your tablets. They NEVER have what I need. Ever. I freaking hate it. Ooh, I get mad just thinking about that hole that I call Hell.
I HATE WALMART. That is all.
And don’t worry – I have been boycotting it since one moved into our city. I hate it so very much.
lol and this just added to the reasons i will never go to wal-mart. i went once YEARS ago at night (my first mistake) and there were guys shopping without shirts on. WTF?