Now, at this time, the Lake was nothing like it is now. Now, you can go to Target, Starbucks, Panera Bread Company, Paul's Market, HyVee, etc. for all your grocery and household product needs. All that development has really only come along in the last 3 to 5 years though. Before that, there was really only a Wal-Mart Supercenter (one of the first Supercenters, I believe), your local convience store gas station and a terribly shady Carl's (where it was discovered they were putting new expiration stickers on top of the old ones on the meat, "extending" its shelf life). Back then, the Lake was not even close to looking like it does now: you could still ski on the Main Channel and EVERYONE shopped at Wal-Mart because you had no choice.
When thinking of spending summers as a kid at the Lake, I cannot help but think of the ordeal of loading the car. My family is staunchly opposed to Wal-Mart. My dad is a pretty staunch Republican, but then he shocks you by being a recycling freak and a Wal-Mart hater. He is a business owner himself and employs about 60 Union electricians, believes Union is the only way to go and is a big supporter of local and family-operated businesses. Because of this beef we had with Wal-Mart, we refused to shop there, even when it was the only option around. So that meant that my mom would do this enormous grocery trip at our Schnuck's or Dierburg's the day before we left for the Lake, and we would then have to somehow fit all these coolers full of meat and produce and dairy into my dad's Expedition. Even though that's a big car, add 4 kids and all the baggage that goes along with that and it makes for a ride from hell.
The point of this story is that, Wal-Mart is a remarkably polarizing company. People love it or hate it, but they definitely have an opinion either way. Some people hate it so much they go to great lengths (2 to 3 coolers, to be exact) to avoid it at all costs. Some people love it so much they'd shop there everyday if they could; I overheard a girl say she'd love to live there, actually. Personally, I can spare the few bucks they would save me per trip and go elsewhere with my business. I don't think the money saved is worth what they had to do to get those low prices to you. But that's just me.
Actually it's an interesting thing, people's political beliefs often don't line up very well with the party they support. It's amazing how often people's party identification seems to run more as a tribal identification thing than a considered opinion based on a careful examination of the various party's platforms. That said, the more dramatic times get, the more people will switch their votes over to non-preferred candidates.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was an interesting point, though, in the Fishman reading that Wal~mart's 2nd biggest segment in Oklahoma was the group that was deeply ambivalent about them and didn't like them much. Interesting that your family was in the deep rejector segment.
You make me wonder how much it is income based. If you take the people who don't like Wal~mart much, is it the case that the rich ones do manage to avoid going, while the poor ones find themselves forced to... or whether people really are so inconsistent, with their attitudes being so often undermined by minor financial temptations.