Maul-mart

Just what we needed: one more reason to detest Wal-mart and vow to never shop there again. The footage of "Black Friday" shoppers was all over the news the day after Thanksgiving. Customers queued up in line for hours to be the first in the door at 5:00AM the day after Thanksgiving. Wal-mart was advertising unbelievably low prices on popular merchandise items... which were, of course, only available in very limited supply.

So, of course, thousands of anxious, cranky red-necks were waiting in pre-dawn, sub-freezing weather for hours to race, shove and brawl with another to buy one of the five available X-Box 360s in stock. People were screaming, franticly shoving one another, falling, being trampled... it was like a Garth Brooks sighting at a Nascar racetrack.

Seriously. The behavior being generated and exploited by Wal-mart is bad enough. But here's an interesting point. Across the country, at these pre-dawn shopping melees police, paramedics and firefighters were required. Crowd-control, arrests of overtly garrulous shoppers, medical attention for trampled patrons: all of these needed services being provided by tax-payers. While Wal-mart makes more record profits.

Just as tax-payers pick up the tab for the health care of Wal-mart employees. Full-time, underpaid Wal-mart workers have no health insurance... but they still need health care.

The heirs of Sam Walton, founder of Wal-mart, are usually scattered throughout several of the top 10 slots of the annual Forbes list of billionaires. Isn't it clear why?

No health care for underpaid workers. Forced overtime hours for workers without overtime pay. Exploitation of third-world laborers, making about 18 cents an hour to make cheap products to be sold at low Wal-mart wagers.

Uggh! But everyone already knows this... and we still go crazy to get in the damn store and pay $1.99 for a battery-operated, made in China, nose-hair remover to give to Aunt Gertrude for Christmas.

Boycott Wal-mart.... sorry, Maul-mart.