Foo - You know ... he's right.

You know ... he's right (http://www.fortune.com/fortune/valuedriven/0,15704,558759,00.html?cnn=yes)

Ummm.. no he's not. That story was featured in a news magazine, and as it turns out, that woman and her sister have sued WalMart about 10 times in the last few years over the same type of incident- claiming they got mobbed at the store while waiting for deals. Currently, WalMart is investigating not only that claim, but all their other past incidents. One of the sisters worked at WalMart at one point, and she also sued WalMart for being injured on the job. Some of the claims were quietly paid out, and so far, I think they said the sisters have collected about $25,000 in claims. The police are also investigating other claims they made against other warehouse stores in the past few years.

We are NOT Paris Hiltons- we are a litigous society where there are so many people who want the little gadgets and doodads out there that they feel like they have to fight in some cheap store for what really is cheap merchandise that will probably break down in a year or less, which is sad. :(

Koffee

I read the woman that witnessed the accident had previously had a Walmart accident herself in which the woman injured this time was the witness. That is an amazing coincidence.
Of course, if you shop at Walmart you should be knocked unconscious at a minimum :D
As John Stewart said " The woman was knocked unconscious and has no memory of her trip to Walmart, a phenomenon doctors call,... LUCKY.

Yes, the woman who witnessed the accident being her sister would also be an amazing coincidence too... right?

Some people would be willing to get themselves knocked unconscious for a quick buck, which is sad. In that case, they need to be knocked unconscious!

The only way I'd be involved in a store stampede would be Neiman Marcus or some store of that caliber. You can slap me silly and call me stupid, but I'm going to fight to get into a upscale store! :D

Koffee

In the words of Bruce:
Shop smart, shop S-Mart!

S-Mart or K-Mart?

:D

Koffee

I want to be Paris Hilton, but I keep forgetting to leave my underwear home.

I'd say most of the people inhabiting the middle class have much for which to be thankful. The real difference between most of us and Ms. Hilton and her ilk (other than a few million bucks, I mean) is that we aren't clueless about it. Poverty isn't an abstract; even if it hasn't touched us personally, it's a good bet our parents and grandparents were very familiar with it. (My dad was fond of saying that, when he was a kid, his family "didn't have a pot to p!ss in or a window to throw it out of".) The distinction is that my parents told me what it was like to be truly poor and stressed the importance of the work ethic and appreciating what we have.

So I enjoy my computer and my cell phone (well, about as much as any phone, which is to say not that much), and our microwave, and of course my bike. But I don't spend outrageous sums of money and rack up mind-boggling charges on a credit card because I'm bored, or unprepared to consider what other challenges are out there because I really don't have but the haziest notion of how most of the rest of the citizens of Earth live. That rarefied air that Paris Hilton breathes is stifling. How appalling. How very sad.

We are NOT Paris Hiltons- we are a litigous society where there are so many people who want the little gadgets and doodads out there that they feel like they have to fight in some cheap store for what really is cheap merchandise that will probably break down in a year or less, which is sad. :(

Koffee

While I agree with your point totally, Koffee ... with all due respect, I think you missed the point of the article. :)

...not surprising...

While I agree with your point totally, Koffee ... with all due respect, I think you missed the point of the article. :)

Ummm... no, I didn't. I don't agree with the article- I think he uses a story about the Walmart sisters without knowing all the facts and doing his investigating about the true story. So that was dumb to begin with. He could have used a better example, and any literate with a real writing degree knows this is a no-no, but I guess the media likes to distort stories to make their own point and sell the papers.

I also don't agree with the story because it's ridiculous as a whole. I remember when you could get candy for 10 cents in the late seventies. Now, it's like that same piece of candy is seventy five cents. I remember when you could fill up your gas tank for like $6 and you were good to go back in the mid-eighties. Now, it costs $20 to fill up the tank most of the way, and you have to get gas 3 times a week in order to keep up with your commute! I remember when a new car was $7000, and that was expensive. Now cars start at like $12K or so and we call that a deal. Back in the eighties (during Reganomics), land was worthless and bankruptcies were out of control. Now, you can get a nice new house for 3.5% interest and pay $300,000 and pay $800 a month for your mortgage payment.

Life changes. The era changes. It's ridiculous to think that you oke-dokey some dumb article about how spoiled we are and compare us to life during other decades. It would have been a smarter article to compare us to, say, the average European, or even look at life in Third World countries, and then get on the moral high horse, but that's not the gist of the article (at least, not my interpretation).

Oh well, to each his own. I think it's a BIG stretch to insulte me and say I'm like Paris Hilton- I don't have her millions, I have a brain that I use, and at least, I KNOW what Walmart is.


Koffee

Arn't you also hotter as well?

Arn't you also hotter as well?

Yeah! And I'll bet the closest Miz Paris has been to a bike saddle is maybe one or two spinning classes she probably had to be cajoled into joining. "Aw, c'mon Pare! They have cocktails and snacks! The instructor guy is sooo hawt! Pleeeease, pretty please? It'll be rilly rilly FUN!"

If you don't count money, I figure we all lead richer lives. Rilly.

Christmas is the time of the yar of cheer not trampling at
a foolish Wmart.

Christmas is the time of the yar of cheer not trampling at
a foolish Wmart.

Cheer, shopping...these words really shouldn't even be in the same sentence (unless you're shopping for bike stuff, natch). Unfortunately we suffer under the lash of Madison Avenue, who strives to convince us that, to demonstrate our love of friends and family, we must buy carloads of disposable rubbish for people who don't need a damned thing.

Instead, donate to charities and insist your family and friends do likewise! For that matter, why wait for Xmas? The holiday comes but once a year, but people are free to starve all 365 days.

I think it's a BIG stretch to insulte me and say I'm like Paris Hilton- I don't have her millions, I have a brain that I use, and at least, I KNOW what Walmart is.


Koffee

The point of the article, in my opinion, is to retrospectively illustrate how our standard of living, in terms of how most people (not me, but I won’t speak for anyone else) has increased over time. I found it interesting, and thought others would also. I’m sorry if you took offense to the article, or offense to me posting the article. That was not my intent.

Please feel free to delete this thread.

Oh no... that wasn't the point at all.

I agree our standard of living has increased over time, but I just think he used poor examples of illustrating how. I think he could have written it much better. I don't like how he compares us to someone like Paris Hilton, when the majority of the USA lives nothing close to her and doesn't share her mentality (or lack thereof).

I take no personal offense with you- it's all good to post the article, and I think this topic should stay. It's all good. I was just debating it a bit, that's all.

Koff