Walmart Loves You

Walmart "loves" you, this I know, for the Supercenters tell me so.

Whenever I enter through those automatic sliding glass doors I'm feeling pretty darn good. Almost happy sometimes just to be there and see all that abundance. It's an abundance that you'll never find under any form of real socialism (socialism, that is, that does not act parasitically on free markets to "spread the wealth", as in some so-called "socialist" countries in Western Europe) and that can only exist under what I'm still going to call capitalism.

I don't have a "Supercenter" (a giant Walmart that sells a full line of groceries as well as the usual general merchandise you find at all Walmarts) near the home where I spend most of the week, so I only get to visit a super Walmart about once a week. This week I could only purchase a few items (but then, due to my previous Walmart excursions, I currently have enough of all the other things I need) and one of those on my list was soda. It's very hot right now, and I don't have air conditioning at one home and we only use it in a limited fashion at the other home, so I have to have some cold soda pop in the fridge (mostly various diet sodas) at all times. I know water is better for you, and I do drink a lot of it when the weather is this warm and, yes, I drink it in bottled form ("Horrors!" I can hear the enviro-nuts scream) but I also still want something sweet and bubbling to cool me down too. Thus my constant quest these past few weeks to seek out and acquire the best tasting, most flavorful and positively thirst-quenching carbonated drinks on the market.

One of the first displays I saw was for Walmart's house brand Sam's Choice soda. They were selling six packs for one dollar (and no additional CRV fee like in Commie Califorina!) and even though I don't drink many regular sodas containing the dreaded HFCS, I put a couple in my cart. A heavyset gentleman came up with his own cart and asked me if they were really selling these for just a buck and I said yes. He started loading up with one of each variety offered. He couldn't find any root beer though, and boy, did he want root beer. He circled the display several times, lifting six packs right and left in his vain search, but no root beer was to be found. "Need some root beer too," he said.

He headed off in the same direction I did, to the soda and water aisle. He actually did find the Sam's Choice Root Beer in six packs there, also of course for only a dollar. I myself added a root beer to my cart, but also several 12 packs of diet soda.

The thing about Walmart is, you can have pretty much everything you see that you want on a given trip because things are at prices you can actually afford. This is why I have no Supercenters near my other home, the unions and the big supermarket chains have kept them out through local government rules on "big box" stores and laws limiting how many square feet can be devoted to food in a store that sells more than just groceries.

I had a short discussion the other day with a black woman from North Carolina who started in on Walmart. "I hates the Waltons!" she proclaimed loudly. "I hates Walmart and how they treat people. I from Detroit where they make the cars, and thanks to the unions people make decent money working, not like at Walmart." Yes, and look what happened to the American auto companies.

Forget all that nonsense about Walmart being evil. The truth is Walmart "loves" you. They love your business, sure, but they also love you inadvertently, by giving you what you want at prices you can pay. I know the difference every time I enter a regular supermarket and find myself unable to add some things to the old grocery cart that I want because the prices are so high.

The heavyset guy passed me a bit later, his cart full, and said to me with a big grin on his face, "Take care, have a good day!" He was happy and obviously was returning the love to Walmart and its other beneficiaries.

So thank you, Walmart. I love you too!