Barefoot discrimination by Wal-Mart

Most businesses dont mind a little friendly competition and in fact want there to be other options for people to go to sometimes. Many businesses will if you can find something at their store, direct you to another store nearby that sells the same thing for the same price or better and it isnt always one of "their" stores either. If Wal Mart had their way, they would be the only place around to get stuff, they dont want you to go to those other places.

Im sure theyve done research on where theyre gettin their stuff from and im sure they pay attention to the news so they do know whats going on over there. I dont know what they know specifically but its just reasonable to assume they know that the stuff theyre getting is made by people who have to suffer in order to make those things and yet they still get em from those countries anyways.

Then they need to make it cheaper to make things here, either that or these businesses should just bite the bullet and pay whatever prices they have to so they can make things here. That way at least we can make sure no worker suffers to make the things we use everyday and we can make sure all the rules are followed.

Thats why our country should lower the wages and benefits for people so they want to and can work here so our country can have more jobs here and we can ensure all workers are treated well. Many people get paid more and given more benefits than they deserve for the kind of and amount of work they do. Most just get paid alot simply for working there x amount of years even if their whole work habits are sloppy.

I used to go to K-Mart and now I go to Target. Im not sure what other stores sell that kind of stuff.

Then they wouldnt be any worse off than they are here right now and it would force us to lower our wages/benefits so we could pay to have more jobs here. I just dont like these countries where they have kids toiling away in some hot grimey workplace for the kind of hours adults usually work and getting only a few cents an hour and just living in miserable conditions. I dont like our country buying stuff from people who do that sort of thing.

Maybe we should follow some of their example and lower our wages/benefits so we could have more people working here and then we wouldnt have to resort to relying on anyone else but ourselves.

It may not be illegal but its still inhumane and these countries shouldnt be allowed to operate like that. Its one thing to have your own culture in another country, its quite another to be able to freely abuse and mistreat your people there.

Oh yah the execs who run the companies there are booming but the people who work under them work in filth and dont get anything near what their bossses get. The workers dont get that much cuz it goes into the pockets of whoever is in charge.

Ive just heard alot of things about them and its just the fact that they have so many stores everywhere and theyre so big and clean and fancy and everybody who works there is paid well and is happy and theyre just doing so good, I mean its just a little to good to be true for a company thats just doing honest business. It just feels like under all the warm and fuzznyness of it all theres something dark and twisted to it.

I dont intend to. I just dont want other people to find out the hard way why Wal Marts not such a good idea.

Yeah especially not the way they manipulate things.

Too bad the local businesses and people overseas dont benefit much from it.

That would be fine if it was their choice and wasnt forced on them.

I meant more like people who never bothered to get an education period or those who are here illegally. Just generally any person you wouldnt want working in any business here.

I didnt mean handicapped people, older people, people with children, theyre not undersireable. I mean more like people who are here illegally, those who have no education whatsoever, those who drink/take drugs, those who are criminals/have criminal record, people like that. People you wouldnt want working at a job.

They should have a place that has both, most of the time its either just one or the other. Some people value kindness over higer prices sometimes.

I just meant these people would rather be running their "own" business rather than working at another business for someone else and have to meet their standards.

More like they have that kind of money cuz the people who made Wal Mart probably had a decent amount of money to begin with.

They have lawyers that can find ways around such things and when these people come to inspect the stores they always make sure to put on a good show while these guys are there. Big businesses can afford to take chances that little ones never could. The little businesses actually have to be legit because it sticks out like a sore thumb if theyre not.

The store can control it when theyre as big and powerful as Wal Mart tends to be.

I know they drove out a K-Mart near me and I had a few friends who worked there that dont now and a bunch of other places just happened to conviently go out of business right around the time the Wal Mart showed up. Alot of people were afraid that the Wal Mart would put them out of business if they stayed.

 

Most businesses dont mind a little friendly competition and in fact want there to be other options for people to go to sometimes. Many businesses will if you can find something at their store, direct you to another store nearby that sells the same thing for the same price or better and it isnt always one of "their" stores either. If Wal Mart had their way, they would be the only place around to get stuff, they dont want you to go to those other places.

Im sure theyve done research on where theyre gettin their stuff from and im sure they pay attention to the news so they do know whats going on over there. I dont know what they know specifically but its just reasonable to assume they know that the stuff theyre getting is made by people who have to suffer in order to make those things and yet they still get em from those countries anyways.

Then they need to make it cheaper to make things here, either that or these businesses should just bite the bullet and pay whatever prices they have to so they can make things here. That way at least we can make sure no worker suffers to make the things we use everyday and we can make sure all the rules are followed.

Thats why our country should lower the wages and benefits for people so they want to and can work here so our country can have more jobs here and we can ensure all workers are treated well. Many people get paid more and given more benefits than they deserve for the kind of and amount of work they do. Most just get paid alot simply for working there x amount of years even if their whole work habits are sloppy.

I used to go to K-Mart and now I go to Target. Im not sure what other stores sell that kind of stuff.

Then they wouldnt be any worse off than they are here right now and it would force us to lower our wages/benefits so we could pay to have more jobs here. I just dont like these countries where they have kids toiling away in some hot grimey workplace for the kind of hours adults usually work and getting only a few cents an hour and just living in miserable conditions. I dont like our country buying stuff from people who do that sort of thing.

Maybe we should follow some of their example and lower our wages/benefits so we could have more people working here and then we wouldnt have to resort to relying on anyone else but ourselves.

It may not be illegal but its still inhumane and these countries shouldnt be allowed to operate like that. Its one thing to have your own culture in another country, its quite another to be able to freely abuse and mistreat your people there.

Oh yah the execs who run the companies there are booming but the people who work under them work in filth and dont get anything near what their bossses get. The workers dont get that much cuz it goes into the pockets of whoever is in charge.

Ive just heard alot of things about them and its just the fact that they have so many stores everywhere and theyre so big and clean and fancy and everybody who works there is paid well and is happy and theyre just doing so good, I mean its just a little to good to be true for a company thats just doing honest business. It just feels like under all the warm and fuzznyness of it all theres something dark and twisted to it.

I dont intend to. I just dont want other people to find out the hard way why Wal Marts not such a good idea.

Yeah especially not the way they manipulate things.

Too bad the local businesses and people overseas dont benefit much from it.

That would be fine if it was their choice and wasnt forced on them.

I meant more like people who never bothered to get an education period or those who are here illegally. Just generally any person you wouldnt want working in any business here.

I didnt mean handicapped people, older people, people with children, theyre not undersireable. I mean more like people who are here illegally, those who have no education whatsoever, those who drink/take drugs, those who are criminals/have criminal record, people like that. People you wouldnt want working at a job.

They should have a place that has both, most of the time its either just one or the other. Some people value kindness over higer prices sometimes.

I just meant these people would rather be running their "own" business rather than working at another business for someone else and have to meet their standards.

More like they have that kind of money cuz the people who made Wal Mart probably had a decent amount of money to begin with.

They have lawyers that can find ways around such things and when these people come to inspect the stores they always make sure to put on a good show while these guys are there. Big businesses can afford to take chances that little ones never could. The little businesses actually have to be legit because it sticks out like a sore thumb if theyre not.

The store can control it when theyre as big and powerful as Wal Mart tends to be.

I know they drove out a K-Mart near me and I had a few friends who worked there that dont now and a bunch of other places just happened to conviently go out of business right around the time the Wal Mart showed up. Alot of people were afraid that the Wal Mart would put them out of business if they stayed.

 

Mike, I respect you as a barefooter, but you're so over-the-top on this topic it's pathetic. Your mindset on Wal-Mart is pretty much the same as the mindset of some store manager who refuses to let you in barefoot and just will not listen to or accept any logic or facts about bare feet. A person like that has been brainwashed by misinformation, myth, and deep-seated psychological aversion to the sight of bare feet. Any debate or attempts to reason with such a person are basically futile. You've probably run across people like that.

You seem to have developed an almost automaton-like set of redundant responses to every issue or point raised about Wal-Mart. They are not much more than meaningless rhetoric. You are unable to cite any specific instances of the "corruption," or the "crimes," or the "dishonesty," or the "intimidation," or any of the other buzzwords you keep using over and over, in spite of my asking you several times to explain how you came up with such conclusions. I have the feeling that you were probably treated badly at some Wal-Mart at one time or another, and you've no doubt read some negative stories in the paper recently about Wal-Mart, and you've just kind of bought into all that negative press, hook, line and sinker, without any independent research or thinking logically about it for yourself.

From statements you've made, it's obvious, at least in my opinion, that you are seriously lacking in fundamental knowledge of business and economics. I'm not even sure you understand how the American free enterprise system works, and you definitely have no clue about the economic realities of the world, the effect that has on us, and the fact that we have little or no control over that.

I'm not defending Wal-Mart at all. I'm just saying you should keep things in perspective and don't believe everything you read in the paper. At least don't be so gullible and so easily influenced by what you read or hear.

You have a right to not like Wal-Mart and not shop there or work there. But other people have a right to think for themselves and make their own decisions about where they want to shop or work. And if those choices aren't the same choices you would have made, those people are not some kind of fools as you keep implying. Wal-Mart has its faults, and there are indeed things about Wal-Mart that I don't like either, as I have pointed out before, but a lot of good people shop there and work there. And they do it in and of their own free will. The free market controls the fortunes of Wal-Mart, as it controls every other business in this country. A business that operates efficiently and is able to give customers what they want at a reasonable price and still make a profit will thrive, like Wal-Mart has. A business that cannot do all of those things will not thrive and will close. That's just the way business in a free market works. The customer is in total control, not the business itself.

 

Least im honest and tell people why I really think the way i do about things, these managers at these stores try to claim they dont want you coming in barefoot because of some company policy when really deep down they just dont like you in their store barefoot. People would be alot happier if they just told them right up front that yeah they dont want barefoot people in their store because they dont like bare feet instead of lying about all this company rule garbage that doesnt exist.

Its not like im a lawyer and can recite every detail of everything ive come across and do some really big research and come up with some huge case about all the evils of Wal Mart. Im just trying to tell people what I think the best way i know how. Some things I really dont know how to answer properly but I still think its better to say something than nothing at all and just ignore it.

In a way im glad I dont know about it because if I knew what those people knew or thought the way they did, itd scare me. I just dont feel like alot of business people these days are very honest or people friendly and I just dont want to become the way alot of them are now. Their whole world revolves around money, even when theyre not at work and theyre so fixated on making money that they forget about the more important and better aspects of life.

Sure I dont beleive EVERYTHING bad/good they say about Wal Mart but I think alot of people who do say things about Wal Mart are going in the right direction. Alot of them do exaggerate a bit though i think.

Of course its their choice but I just think these people need to realize before they make that choice that the choice theyre thinking of making can have some large and long lasting impacts on other people that they might want to consider before they make that choice. Im just suggesting people dont be in such a rush to make a decision until they know what theyre getting themselves into.

Wal Mart also hires bad people and unfortunately the good ones have to work side by side with the bad ones. These good people also dont realize that they might be contributing to a company that does dishonest things and supports people who do dishonest things. I doubt alot of these big company execs got to the top just because of their talent. Its like with people in the music industry, you dont usually make it big just cuz you can sing or play something well. Usually theres something a bit more dark that has to be done to get to the top.

Like ive said, if thats all it was then I wouldnt be worried.

 

I agree with you completely on that.

That's fine, I don't have a problem with that. But I just wanted to point out that not everybody looks at things the same way. Sometimes things just aren't what they may seem when you really take a close look and keep an open mind.

I think you can still live in this world, keep up with what's going on from all aspects, and still not become tainted by it. Just realize you'll never be able to change the world. No point in upsetting yourself about the way things are. Just live your own life as best and honestly as you can.

You're right, it does revolve around money. And that's a reality we can't ignore. On the other hand, we as individuals don't have to forget the more important and better aspects of life either.

Wal-Mart's an easy target to pick on. Some of it's justified, some isn't. People just have to look at the facts, and again, realize there is always more than one side to an issue.

What's important to most people who shop or work at Wal-Mart is surviving. That is, supporting their families and putting food on the table. That's the "large or long lasting impact" they have to think about.

Well, I've never seen any proof of what you're saying. And like in a court of law, I think people or businesses are innocent until proven guilty. Just because you say they're dishonest, or someone else does, does not make it so.

Well, that is all it is (the customer is in control, not the business itself). And you don't need to worry. Just do what you personally think is right, and don't worry about what other people are doing.

 

i always get kicked out of wal mart for not wearing shoes. its lame. i would like to see the policy though.

 

"International" policy??? Wow, I didn't think any business would go that far. That's just plain rediculous.

The more I hear about stores banning barefoot customers, the more I think that society is a hopeless case. I used to wear shoes in public without question, and I never heard any of these stories until I started going barefoot.

Coat-and-tie restaurants were the only establishments I knew of that had any kind of a widely advertised dress code. Other places didn't seem to require any specific clothing at all. (At the time, I never gave NSNSNS signs a second thought.) Now that I go barefoot, I think it's just plain stupid and rude that someone would get me in trouble for not wearing shoes. People who do that need to get a grip. It's not about sanitation, safety, or the law at all. It's all about opinions, fear and ignorance.

 

earthmama, I've never been kicked out of or refused entry to any Wal-Mart for not wearing shoes. But I'm not saying it doesn't happen. You say you "always" get kicked out of Wal-Mart? Are you talking about one particular Wal-Mart, or a bunch of them? I can tell you, they, as a corporation, have no policy. There's no point in asking about some policy, they don't have one. They're never going to show you one in writing if that's what you're looking for. That's why they're not all the same as to the way they treat barefooters. It's all up to the individual store and its manager.

 

I am sooo glad we don't have such problems over here in Holland.
Not only there's no shopowner here who will refuse service to somebody who is barefoot,I am often welcomed.
After all I am spending money there.
The only remark I ever got in my local supermarket was " I thought you were harder than that,why are you wearing shoes", this happened the first time I wasn't barefoot last November because the temperature had dropped almost to freezing.

 

That's pretty funny Kees. Glad to see some people are so cool about it! I really wonder why barefeet in public is so hard for some people in the states to handle. I would think everyone would prefer to be barefoot as much as possible, but I guess not. Oh well, it's their loss!

 

I think it is because of our (USA) image conscious society and how we like everyone to conform. being barefoot, we don't conform and we sure aren't image conscious.

 

right, but if you then put on shoes and stepped in dog poo, they'd have no problem with you walking around the store????!!!! People just don't make any sense.

 

I'm not sure why this thread is just about walmart, there's barefoot discrimination everywhere!

But I always remember this [somewhat cheesy] little lyric from Dream Theater if I ever grow fearful of what people think:

To those who understand,
I extend my hand.
To the doubtful I command,
Take me as I am.
Not under your command,
I know where I stand
I won't change to fit your plan,
Take me as I am

Oh, and when you're trying to explain your barefooting "habit"

Taking in the view from the outside
Feeling like the underdog
Watching through the window I'm on the outside
Living like the underdog
I've been wasting my breath on you
Open minds will descent upon you

 

or from our Aggie spirit

from the outside looking in you can't understand
from the insdide looking out you can't explain
the spirit of Aggieland.

this can be done for barefooting you can't 'explain' it and those that don't can't understand it.

 

Hey there!

Well, I am really surprised about this American barefoot fear. I walked into my local Hypermart (A Tesco, You'll get them very soon over there) and.....Nobody gave a shit. Noody said anything, the security guard/Greeter just nodded in greeting. It's Amazing, nobody really cares about people being barefoot.