"That's the Wal-Mart Way"

[ymetca]

Working from home today, TV on in the background, and I notice I am getting a steady dose of Wal-Mart propaganda about how wonderful they are. It's the holiday season and they're not hawking a thing but how incredible their workplace is for their marvelous employees, who are depicted as grinning from ear to ear about all the glorious opportunities they have.

Yeah, right.

There's a Wal-Mart Supercenter right up the road from me. Whenever I go in there the employees look like they've just been run over by the squeegee machine. The few desultory cashiers they have can't even keep a water bottle by their registers. It's that pathetic. Even on a busy Saturday you're lucky to find a handful of checkers. Why? Because they're largely being replaced with self-checkout machines.

If the objective is to eliminate workers by replacing them with robots (oh, and we know it is), why don't you start at the top? I'm sure your CEO could be replaced with a HAL 9000...

[sharp_stick]

1. I don't think I've ever seen a

Walmart employee smile. I can't blame them, the stores are so bland and boring that the life must get sucked out of them before the shift even starts.

[pangaia]

2. And then there is the smell, the Walmart smell.

I go in one about once every 2 months--in and out as fast as I can move.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

Let's replace all the cashiers with self-service.

I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

Cut all the employees back to part time.

I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

Maybe HAL would make a very good CEO.

I have seen that advertisement, and I feel the same way that you do. It turns me off so much. I find it ridiculous. Selling the corporation instead of products.

[SheilaT]

4. I've been seeing those ads also,

and it would be interesting to find and interview those employees in them.

Bonuses for a part timer? Really? That's the one that has me most skeptical.