Random Musings of a Caffeinated Insomniac

Wal-Marts are just gross

Other than all the attention they've been getting in the media lately, especially since the "Nickel and Dimed" book exploded, about their substandard wages, Wal-Mart is just gross. Maybe the ones in other areas are different, but all of their stores I've been in around here just feel dirty. Lately, my experience has been the newest store in the area, since that's the one on my route for work. It was nice for the first month or so it was open. The floors were clean, the workers were friendly, and the bathrooms sparkled. Now? The only people ruder than the customers (who I have had deliberately shove their carts into me rather than say "excuse me" or anything at all) are the employees (yesterday, I politely asked one a question, and she just ignored me. That is the closest to polite interaction I've seen in months). The floors generally look like they haven't been cleaned since the grand opening, and the bathrooms deserve a citation. Or declared a hazardous waste dump. Aside from the usual unflushed toilets, toilet paper covering more of the floor than not and brown smeared toilet paper stuck to the stall walls, and the lovely smell of urine permeating the air, there are the things that stand out as bad. The automatic faucets (which are in theory a great idea) don't work. I have seen people stand there for literally 5 minutes trying to get any of them to produce water. The toilet in the middle stall (generally the closest to clean, since it's not often used) has come lose from the floor. It moves about 2 inches if you sit on it. Of course, this was the same stall where last week I glanced down at the lunchbox (sanitary napkin disposal, for those unfamiliar with the euphemism) and saw a ruined pair of women's panties and a used condom tossed in. The funniest thing about the mess? According to the checklist on the door, the bathroom has generall been "cleaned" about 15-30 minutes before I get to the store. Either the customers are worse than I thought or the cleaning lady needs fired. Probably both.
I think the saddest part about Wal-Mart is that there are now at least 4 (2 regular, 2 supercenters) within a 15 minute radius from me, and they are all usually busy. People brag about how much money they save, but everything that I buy on a regular basis, I have priced there and found at other area stores for lower sale prices. Hell, one store offers some of them at a regular price that is lower than any Walmart sale price I've noticed. I think, and the Wal-Mart ad campaigns support, that people look once, think "hey, this is a good price" and assume they're getting the best deal on every item, every time they shop there. I know that I do the same thing when I shop, but I'm also in 7-8 stores a week that carry the same items (sometimes more), so I can get a good feel for the current prices. And honestly, to me, getting the best price on something (especially when we're usually only talking by a very few cents) means less than shopping at a store I can feel good about supporting.
I hate Wal-Marts. Since the newest one came in, I've seen 2 of my favorite plant nurseries (1 w/ great prices, the other with a huge selection) go out of business. From what I've heard, there are several other small businesses that have gone out, most blaming declining sales since Wal-Mart came in. I see people almost every week out shopping complaining about the lack of variety in stores around the area. And most of them are shopping at Wal-Mart. Gross.