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I hate to shop.
I know, I’m a bad fag.
It’s not that I dislike spending money, as I clearly have a knack for that. The issue is that while I’m normally a friendly, optimistic, good-natured and socially outgoing person, my ability to wear that mask gets put to the test inside any building larger than 4000 square feet.
I hate standing in line. I hate people who walk slowly. I hate people who have to check the ingredient list of every variety of chicken noodle soup on the shelf. I hate people who wander aimlessly. I hate people who get distracted by shiny objects wrapped in plastic. I hate people who stand right in front of the one item I have come into a store to purchase and talk on their cell phone about how the dog pissed on their favorite open-toed sandal.
And that’s just the customers.
I also hate being spritzed with some nasty “designer” fragrance by a woman who thinks her makeup foundation can do the job of spackle. I hate being asked thirty seven times per hour if I’d like to “Save 10 percent today by opening a credit account.” Bitch, don’t you think if I could get a credit card in your store, I’d have one already? I hate that every time I actually NEED to talk to a salesperson it requires a lengthy game of hide and seek, a set of semaphore flags, and a communication system that was once reserved for the innermost rings of the Pentagon. I hate looking into the dejected faces of minimum wage cashiers who can’t afford to shop in their workplace.
That’s why I shop online.
I saw a news item this week that the Human Rights Campaign had (just in time for the holiday shopping season) downgraded Wal-Mart’s score in their Consumer Guide. From USA TODAY:
Citing Wal-Mart’s refusal to offer domestic partner benefits to its gay and lesbian workers, the HRC said Tuesday that the USA’s biggest private employer has ‘more work to do in furthering equality.’ It advised gays and their supporters to shop elsewhere. Wal-Mart rated a red 40 on a scale of 100, down from a yellow 65 in 2006. It was among 54 companies that scored 45 or lower in HRC’s 2008 Corporate Equality index, which assigns ratings to 519 large companies. Also in the red: Toys R Us, RadioShack (RSH) and AutoZone (AZO). Wal-Mart rival Target rated a ‘green’ 80, meaning that ‘consumers should make every effort to support these businesses.’ Wal-Mart has bucked a corporate trend of expanding benefits for gay employees, says Daryl Herrschaft, director of HRC’s workplace project.
As a blast from the past, I’m going to point you to the post I wrote LAST Black Friday all about Wal-Mart. I didn’t have nearly as many readers back then, so you may have missed it.
*As you may have noticed, I also resurrected my holiday-themed blog theme. I am hoping it will do something to put me in the holiday mood.
