Being addicted to Wal-Mart

My high school friends and I met up at Penn State, where we stayed at a Holiday Inn. I looked… My high school friends and I met up at Penn State, where we stayed at a Holiday Inn. I looked across the road and saw a Wal-Mart. Here in Pittsburgh, I have met a countless number of people who claim Wal-Mart is the only store within 20 minutes of their town. My response was always, “Well, I’ve never been to Wal-Mart.” This is followed by shock and amazement by everyone within a 10-mile radius.

I know what the critics are saying and how Wal-Mart is changing the world as we know it. This company has become too big to stop. American workers will not have decent wages. Mom and Pop stores won’t turn profits. Even major chains and supermarkets are being annihilated by this corporate giant. Wal-Mart has taken over the world, bringing consequences that will eventually take their toll. I knew all of this. I vowed not to shop there.

Then, for the first time in my life, the car stopped at Wal-Mart in State College. I entered the realm of the biggest superstore anyone could have possibly dreamed. I’ve heard the stories, but did not realize just how irresistible this store was. At 12:40 p.m. I walked into the store and purchased a basketball for $24.33. This same one was over $30 at Modell’s. Then, the secrets of Wal-Mart started to become clear to me.

I walked around the store. Just the sheer enormity of it had me laughing. After all, I wasn’t a normal, everyday Wal-Mart shopper, just an observer that happened to be buying one simple basketball.

My understanding grew as I walked through aisles. This one place had everything a person needs to survive. I was in amazement at the prices, the selection and the setup of this store. It all seemed too good to be true.

Needless to say, I knew that something could not be right. I had heard too much negative talk about how they treat their workers, lack of promotions to women and sweatshops overseas. I vowed never to walk into a Wal-Mart again.

We went back at 7:40 p.m. on Saturday. There was a real nice belt I saw in there, and, since I needed one, well I figured, heck, why not. I walked out of the store with a belt for $11.38, socks, Tootsie Rolls and a Coke. Denial stage had set in. My addiction to Wal-Mart for this one day started building itself. I knew it had to stop. I didn’t anticipate going to Wal-Mart again, at least not for a little while.

I fear a world where everything exists in one place. A world where every town looks the same and has the same haircut they got at Wal-Mart. A world where everyone buys the same products and goes out to eat at a Wal-Mart.

I’m not pretending to be the first one to recognize this problem, but I want to be another person to say: look, here’s a problem.

Then, at 2:34 a.m., the Wal-Mart doors still opened for me. My wallet did not stop feeding this giant corporation. We walked over to the video game cashier because it was the only one open. The cashier rang up hats for $2.50. Absurd. My friend purchased a South Park shirt as we laughed at the ultimate irony taking place, which described this exact situation in the episode “Something Wal-Mart Comes This Way.” We also purchased ping-pong balls, not for the typical college student game of beer pong, however.

I mean, these ping-pong balls were only $1.11. The price was too good to be true. A dollar was so worth the 10 minutes of fun we’d have ambushing our friends with them.

Then I saw the problem. I looked into the eyes of the employee ringing our products up. I thought about EB Games on Forbes, and the man working there – a man passionate about video games and the products he’s selling. That’s when I truly understood. This lady does not care about video games.

Sure EB Games is a chain as well, but not close to the vein of Wal-Mart, which can provide absolutely everything to a town or suburb. The prospects scare me. I want to live in a unique and creative world, not one committed to uniformity and homogeneity.

One third of America shops at Wal-Mart at least once a month. One hundred million different people walk into the same store selling the same products, conducting the same exact system. I wish I could tell them they’re wrong and that they should stop.

But Wal-Mart has the best selection, the best prices and the biggest variety. After all, I can’t tell a family trying to make ends meet that they should shop at more expensive stores and struggle, instead of shopping at Wal-Mart.

I’m not giving up. I’m still standing up and fighting. I won’t give in. I won’t go back. But it’s cold outside, where else am I going to be able to get a new jacket for $24.76?

Tell Scott your Wal-Mart experiences at sdn2@pitt.edu.