WalMart=trashy people????

I don't know if this is the place for this or not, if not my apologies and please put it where it should be.

I don't understand why so many on this site equate WalMart patrons as trash, uneducated bumpkins and all the rest of the garbage that is said around here. I grant you that WalMart has its issues with all the Chinese good etc. but this attitude is about as elitist as anything the rich people do or say.

So, all you that think WalMart shoppers are trash, please explain yourselves.

I don't in any way believe wal-mart customers are trash. I believe they are a corporation that preys on the less fortunate among us.

It's the company, not the patron.

[edit on 9/2/2009 by cautiouslypessimistic]

reply to post by redhead57


I somehow suspected you might be posting this at some point.

You have a valid point. I know many people who shop there because it's cheaper to feed a family there then most other places.

I don't care for walmart, but that's personal preference for the most part.

Wal Mart for the most part isn't full of trashy people. Most of the time they are everyday people.

Now if you go in there after midnight, then expect the trashiness of people to climb 100%.

I worked over nights at Wal Mart and let me tell you, it wasn't a pretty sight.

Originally posted by redhead57
I don't know if this is the place for this or not, if not my apologies and please put it where it should be.

I don't understand why so many on this site equate WalMart patrons as trash, uneducated bumpkins and all the rest of the garbage that is said around here. I grant you that WalMart has its issues with all the Chinese good etc. but this attitude is about as elitist as anything the rich people do or say.

So, all you that think WalMart shoppers are trash, please explain yourselves.

People are simply making an obvious observation. Simply because you are offended by it does not destroy its validity. A trip around the local walmart is always great when feeling down, so many examples of how much worse life could be.

Obvious observation

I have shopped in WM's in the suburbs and in the city and while there may be an occasional person that is either very poor or unkempt, that is in the minority. I am really surprised that you would say that.

It is sad to see this in a place with otherwise very savvy people this is the attitude. I guess all the money bags people have to find ways of entertaining themselves. Geesh....

[edit on 9/2/2009 by redhead57]

reply to post by redhead57


It does depend largely upon the location of the Walmart. I suppose it's possible that not all are like he observes. But they are, at least some of them, open 24 hrs., that means their warm, well lit, have places to sit down and rest out of the weather...at least for a time. Small wonder they might beckon to the out of luck.

I work overnight in a small supermarket, and we're open 24-7...we get the same crowd as well... As long as they're not causing an issue, we've no beef.

Originally posted by redhead57
Obvious observation

I have shopped in WM's in the suburbs and in the city and while there may be an occasional person that is either very poor or unkempt, that is in the minority. I am really surprised that you would say that.

It is sad to see this in a place with otherwise very savvy people this is the attitude.

It has nothing to do with attitude and everything to do with observation.

We won't get into the fact that WalMart is practically as unamerican as a corporation can get. Destroying communities, providing unsafe Chinese products, and ruthlessly squashing all attempts of organizing any form of a union.

To see WalMart as an asset to any community is ignorance, bottom line. Furthermore, it's completely short sighted to see the immediate gratification of small savings as more important than the ultimate implications of regularly visiting the store.

Intentional ignorance = stupidity.
Stupid + ignorance + short sightedness = trash.

Again, sorry if you're offended but facts are facts. Don't mistake this as a claim that this is some sort of exclusive club. Middle class, regular, average people are just as likely to shop there and often do.

Doesn't make them any better, even if their clothes are nicer or cleaner or if they have more teeth in their mouth,

I'd sooner go to Walmart than Sears or some gang stalking shopping mall.

I mainly just buy intems such as certain foods, like ground chicken, bottled water soaps etc. I don't buy clothes except for maybe socks and underwear. I actually can't afford new clothes mostly and buy those at the Salvation Army about once a year.

So, call me trashy because I'm on a fixed income or whatever. Walmart is open mostly 24/7 and has mostly everything I need without feeling like a tourist and in the wrong neighborhood.

I've noticed the prices creeping up since the store opened. Was two for $2.98........NOW 2 for $3.00

I do understand what you are saying King about the whole way that WalMart destroys a city. Since they got here in Rochester all the mom and pop grocery stores are pretty much gone as are the pharmacies and many hardware stores. Necessity for inexpensive goods is what drives WalMart's success.

Living on a fixed income due to a disability or people who can only find minimum wage work really have no choice but to make the most out of every penny! When did it get to the place that frugal people are looked down upon in the US?

I carefully make my shopping list and have all my coupons organized and ready to go at checkout whether at WM or any other store. The looks i get from people in line and often from the cashiers is amazing to me. I walk away with $125 of groceries for $65 and laugh my way out of the store. There was a time that thrift was considered a virtue.

BTW, I did the same thing when I was making great money and so was my husband. I am not one to waste a thing nor to pay more than I have to for anything. I guess the depression age mentality of pinching pennies is out of style now. Gee, how did our economy get ruined????

reply to post by redhead57


we dont have this in the uk, most poeple just shop at where they find the most bargains. nobody is labeled cheap. its just smart shopping.

reply to post by seagull


Bingo!!! you got it, depending the location that is the people you are to find in the store.

But that is not so in my neck of the woods.

See our super Wal-mart is open in a more up scale location surrounded by medium to high income homes (the ones with gulf clubs in their backyard) and a very fancy mega church across the street.

Well sad to say the area residences were trill to have that store until the (people from the wrong side of town started to shop in it).

No even I visit the Wal-Mart anymore as the store went throught a transformation, no longer you find the people that used to shop in there in the beginning but now the store is even looking dirty, messy and unkempt.

People steals all the time, even a death hooker was found in the parking lot, causing a stir in the surrounding community.

Things are so bad that no respectable person will go during the night to shop.

Finally Wal-Mart is to start working on opening another store in the wrong side of town to keep the people from that side away from having to "travel" to the "other side".

So actually I guess Wal-Mart in certain areas no matter where you build it it attracts certain group of people.

At least it did in my neck of the woods.

Whether or not the patrons of Wal-Mart could be considered "trashy" depends entirely on which Wal-Mart you visit.

Stores in upscale locales have upscale patrons. Stores in the ghetto have ghetto patrons. There is nothing elitist about this, it's just an observation in demographics.

You won't see a whole lot of mullet-headed, snaggle-tooth folks who do laundry once a month in the kitty pool and bathe once a week in the drainage ditch behind the trailer park eating at black tie restaurants, do you? Likewise, you don't see a whole lot of CFO's rolling up to the Dollar General in their Benz right out side the Section 8 Projects.

Now, whether or not Wal-Mart itself could be considered "trashy" is not a valid question. Wal-Mart is most definitely a "trashy" corporation. I will gladly pay more if it means I don't contribute to their bottom line.

Ever seen The High Cost of Low Price?

Originally posted by redhead57
I do understand what you are saying King about the whole way that WalMart destroys a city. Since they got here in Rochester all the mom and pop grocery stores are pretty much gone as are the pharmacies and many hardware stores. Necessity for inexpensive goods is what drives WalMart's success.

Living on a fixed income due to a disability or people who can only find minimum wage work really have no choice but to make the most out of every penny! When did it get to the place that frugal people are looked down upon in the US?

I carefully make my shopping list and have all my coupons organized and ready to go at checkout whether at WM or any other store. The looks i get from people in line and often from the cashiers is amazing to me. I walk away with $125 of groceries for $65 and laugh my way out of the store. There was a time that thrift was considered a virtue.

BTW, I did the same thing when I was making great money and so was my husband. I am not one to waste a thing nor to pay more than I have to for anything. I guess the depression age mentality of pinching pennies is out of style now. Gee, how did our economy get ruined????

So...

I do understand what you are saying King about the whole way that WalMart destroys a city. Since they got here in Rochester all the mom and pop grocery stores are pretty much gone as are the pharmacies and many hardware stores.

At least you saved a buck or two.

Lets not discuss how we got to your next point,

people who can only find minimum wage work

Because I am sure the mass importation of cheap, dangerous, chinese products in place of domestic products had nothing to do with the failure of the manufacturing industries.

Also worth noting that the employees that power this billion dollar company are paid scraps, we can just lump them in with the rest of the customers who "have no choice".

The bottom line, is that if I can save a dollar today, I will save a dollar today, even if it costs me my community tomorrow.

HOW DID AMERICAN GET TO IT'S CURRENT STATE ON THIS DAY SEPTEMBER 2nd 2009? Short sighted ignorance.

I guess for me it is a matter of survival. I also shop at those discount food chains that you bag up your own food too. Funny, I have seen several anchors from local news stations shopping at these sorts of stores too.

I have to survive on what I have. If I can get food or cleaning products much cheaper that means for me enough money to get buy, it is as simple as that.

I guess that us poor people are always the scapegoats of the have's. Heaven forbid they look at their own behavior and the three mortgages they have on their house and their credit card balances. This is just the sort of thinking that keeps us divided. Sad, we are on the same side of the issues, the big corporate players and politicians care nothing for any of us.

I personally try not to shop at Wal-Mart. Here we have lots of options, if I want that sort of store I go to the local Target and hope I don't run into my ex.

But where my boyfriend lives in Appalachia they only have Wal-Mart and a farmer's market. Everything else is at least an hour a way, if not three hours away. Need a haircut? Go to Wal-Mart. Need to buy glasses? Go to Wal-Mart. Need a drugstore? There are other options for that, same with some food items. But if you need packaged food or frozen food items, or some produce, you need to go to Wal-Mart or the Amish store.

Need a pet fish? Go to Wal-Mart. Need fish to fry? Wal-Mart. I think it's great. Yes many of their products come from unsavory places, but that's all they have for the most part. It's a supersized one, it's open 24/7, whenever I go visit I always make jokes about how many times we go there but really, it's an awesome thing.

I don't tend to think my boyfriend is trashy but his family is low-ish income (although about the same as mine with my dad being unemployed, but not before). The county he lives in has the highest poverty rates in the state, and by admission many of them fit into that "redneck" category. Take, for example, prom night. We're sitting and eating a nice dinner where he works and a car pulls into the parking lot with a big confederate flag on the hood. Trashy? Yes. Wal-Mart? Yes. But not by choice, that's just all there is there.

I think that's where the assumptions come from. Around here, the VAST majority of people who shop at Wal-Mart are hispanic. Do I think some of them are trashy? Yes, but not moreso than other people. When you have a low income, you get what you can afford, sometimes that's trashy. Wal-Mart is one of the least expensive stores around, especially in isolated areas. I know that you can buy like... apples... at my boyfriend's Wal-Mart for a fraction of the cost of the apples at the supermarket here.

I am reminded of something my grandmother told me many years ago.

Income has nothing to do with being dirty, trashy or tacky. LOL

I guess it is all about how a person carries themselves. I have seen some pretty trashy people at the country club with my grandparents and some pretty classy nice people at WalMart albeit they didn't have much money.

I just got really tired of WalMart equating tacky, trashy people around here. If I could afford to never shop there again, I probably would get my make up and cleaning products there anyways. LOL

I dont understand the whole "Chinese goods". Walmart sells exactly what you can find at Target, Grocery Stores, Home Improvement stores and so on.

Also, I live in a a middle upper to upper class area and our Walmart has those kinds of people shopping there. I do not see trashy people nor people wearing no shirts or bikinis or whatever else you find on www.peopleofwalmart.com

I prefer Target when it comes to decor or even clothing brands, but overall Walmart and Target sell the exact same things.

And mom and pop stores? They never ever carry what I need. Nor do they have variety. And to get everything on my list, I would have to get in the car and drive all over town waisting gas money and time.

Though I feel sorry they are struggling, they must only cater to a select few. The big box stores have all most people need in one place and it is always the same quality product as what a mom and pop store would sell.

[edit on 2-9-2009 by inked up]

Its not the customers that are trashy, well most of them..thier are a few bad apples in every crowd. It about walmart growing as a giant. Walmarts near me, thier are 2 of them a few miles north. The one on route 1 in norwalk CT isnt that bad...theirs another a few miles away, on route 7 in CT..thats the cool one. They always have everything in stock, the employees seem cool and all. but.... the times ive gone thier at night, at like 9 pm(they all close at 10 around me), ive gone with a biker leather jacket i have. On 2 occassions, ide go and look at the motor oil and car stuff section. I guess walmart has secret shopping police? Security guy, drssed as a customer kept walking past me, checking me out like 5 times over 20 minutes, simply becuase of longish hair, the biker coat, 3 or 4 days unshaved, but hey i showered! On on occassion.the same guy was walking past me, and i looked across the isle, and a clean cut older guy,l with a coat on, was stuffing air fresheners and refill oils into his pockets!!!!
I dunno if i should have alerted the security guy, but decidd not too, feeling they were waiting their time on just me, meanwhile the clean cut guy stole a bunch of stuff behind thier backs. The security guy didnt even look or greet the guy steeling. I guess i took it kinda discriminatory..he judged me on how i look, without knowing who or what i am really am, nad as a result, the way society wanted someone to lok, was steeling.
I still go to that walmart sometimes, for small things.
the point is...thier growing and growing. Reports and lawsuits sof labor laws being broken are known. thiers an hbo documentary about walmart. one might think, thier helping to kill competition, which is supposed to be illegal, stopping soemone from enterprising, so a company can retain the profits. apparently in todays corporate america. that law is forgotten and swept into the street. its called a monopoloy!

reply to post by MR BOB


Mr. Bob, we in this country have a very, very large number of people who likewise engage in "smart shopping."

We also have a few oddballs who cringe at where a number of our retailers purchase their products for resale. They have a much higher view of themselves than is justified.

The bulk of us realize that some people don't have a life, far too much time on their hands, and just love to bitch.

Then we have Union people who bash Wal-Mart for the strong stance against unions. Seeing as how unions in the US have ruined every industry they are entrenched within, it seems that Wal-Mart is pretty damned smart.

So you'll find a lot of Wal-Mart bashing conducted by Union activists who pretend their bitching is for other reasons.

And then we have another section of our population that will be providing our Chiropractors's many hundreds of patients later in their lives.

They just are so snooty uppity-up and too damned good to buy smart. To tell you how stupid they are about this, they'll pay twenty dollars in an upscale shop when the same, identical item costs five in Wal-Mart.

They're easy to spot. They are alway looking down their noses at the masses, and take great sport in bragging how much they overpaid for their purchases.

More money than sense.

And that covers our Wal-Mart haters - Oddballs, disgruntled Union activists, and the chin-uppers.

And that also explains Wal-Mart's success. As in any population represented in a Bell Curve, the bulk of the population arent' afflicted with these other curses.

[edit on 2-9-2009 by dooper]