Light, and Darkness

The other day, they turned on the newest stoplight between my home and work. This one, less than a mile south of our house, caused a five-minute increase in the travel-to-work time on its first morning of operation.

Of course, that could be because it was turned on to support the grand opening of Central Florida's newest Wal-Mart Supercenter.

I know some people who are thrilled at the propsect. Dan (being among the thrilled) has already ventured inside. He advised me that, depsite the blend-in-with-the-surroundings exterior, the inside is the same store (concrete-and-white, 12-person-deep checkout lanes) you would expect anywhere else in the country. (He also came home laden with so-called "family size" boxes of food that will go bad before we reach the bottom of the normal-sized box. The justification: "It was so CHEAP!")

My last two visits to differing Wal-Marts, I experienced Express Checkout lines that didn't move forward an inch in 20 minutes. Both times, I left my items and walked away. Since then, I've had no desire to return based on principle. It bothers me to read of Wal-Mart's questionable employment practices, to which the company responded, not by setting it right, but by warm-and-fuzzy advertising to try and overcome the nasty-employer image. It also bothers me how they can use the power of size to help determine which books are available for purchase by the masses. I can't begrudge a business making decisions on what it will or will not sell; it is, however, a little scary when the company is so big it can limit choice in the marketplace through those actions (see also: Microsoft).

I guess this begs the question: How much are you willing to pay — literally — for principle? Is a 3-cent-per-gallon difference in price worth going to a Mobil station (a company that actually took away domestic-partner benefits from employees when it merged wtih Exxon)? That, for me, is about 30 cents a week — not much money at all. I may not be much of an activist, but I do believe in supporting companies with socially progressive practices, and avoiding those who are socially regressive. Whether or not I always succeed is another story, but Wal-Mart consistently falls in that latter category in my book.