Those Poor mistreated Mal-Mart employees

[underemployeed]

This was from awhile back but I saw the guy who gave me a rant when I referred someone to go to Mal-Mart right up the road because our gas station didn't carry what they wanted, and I knew they would have it there.

SC: "Mal-Mart is evil! how could you actually want to give those crooks business"
me: "You do realize this is an oil company and we aren't much better?"
SC: "Don't you watch the news that is an evil corporation that mistreats their employees! and pays them horrible wages"
me: "Actually, from all the employees I have talked to it isn't that bad of a job"
SC: "HOW THE HELL CAN YOU THINK THAT!!!!!"
me: "They were closed X-mas day, we weren't"
me: "They start out at a wage 10% higher than min wage, and make more than I do after 1.5 years here, on 3rd shift they get a $2 differential that comes out to about 25% extra. MY company only pays a differential if a competitor also does and even then it is only 50 cents!"

sc: " BUT DON'T you watch the news, they are evil"

I think to myself, SERIOUSLY DUDE your arguing with the wrong person, compared to those poor mistreated workers, I'm getting shafted, "benefits" are a joke even for full time, non existent for part-time. They all get paid more than me and generally seem to like their jobs. They actually get to have schedules in advance, etc etc. Also, I got called ignorant at one part too!

Yet he has no problem supporting an evil oil company that pays the lowest amount they legally have to pay for work, and wonders why I try to hold the counters up as much as possible.

edit: I just remembered, I also mentioned the fact they get a discount on general merchandise (not sure about food)..... and that I don't even get a free drink

[Mytical]

Meh now days Wal-Mart isn't that evil..almost every job has turned into "Heck with the employees, they are just numbers .. and can be replaced"

[bainsidhe]

Up till a year ago, I used to work at "Mal-Mart". Sure it'd be great if employees were paid more and had better benefits, but it'd be great if ALL retail/fast food/gas stations/hospitality/etc did the same. Too many folks fail to realize Mal-Mart isn't the only game in town. At least when I worked there, I started a full dollar over minimum wage. In other retail I'd been making less, even though I was a head cashier.

Good for you pwning him, even if it didn't sink in. And...maybe you should look into getting a job at Mal-Mart.

[Javarod]

Ditto here, back when i first moved out here, i got a job with WalMart for $6.75/hr. This was at the lowest paying store in the valley when minimum wage was $5.35/hr. Not too shabby. I was hired as a seasonal cashier, kept on, promoted to electronics, promoted to DSD, and transferred to a new Super Center over a two year period before i left.

Not a bad gig. The other thing is that it really depends on where you are, it was a bad job here, but speaking to people online, i'd heard of a few horror stories, and really it all boiled down to the area you were in, since management is usually hired from within, which means that bad policies stick around way too long. As to WalMart killing the mom and pop stores, out here they opened where the new developments were, typically out in the desert where there weren't any stores to kill.

Sure, WalMart isn't perfect, and i try to minimize the money i spend with them, but there are worse places, like Target.

[Mnemjian]

Likely he just wants to be proud of himself for something. Sounds like he should volunteer or do something that will actually benefit society instead of not shopping somewhere because they are "evil"... the news said so!

[blas]

Anyone I talked to who works/has worked for Wal-Mart, they either really liked it or really hated it.

My neighbor is a manager, and he absolutely hates it.

[Kristev]

It is as bad as he's described. The trouble is, these days, so is every other place.

[Tama]

I hated it. But unfortunately they are the only choice sometimes for people like me who had never held a job before and thus couldn't get one from others.

[Arwyn Q]

It isn't a bad place to work if you get a decent set of managers, but I think that's almost any job you can do. If you get a sucky manager, you're going to be miserable, but a decent one makes you almost want to go to work. In high school when my Environmental Science teacher went on a rant about the place, I had a great time making his jaw hit the ground by telling him I worked there. xD

I've fluctuated between loving and hating it with the managers. But hey, they let me go on leave for college and just come back to work in the summers without having to reapply or go through any difficult processes, and I still went up for a raise every year.

[Food Lady]

Companies are not evil. People are.

[Kristev]

But you're forgetting two important things: The corporate headless-quarters and the nightmarish consumers.

[sweetj82]

I have worked there for 10 yrs. I think I get paid well for what i do. I get paid double what my friend doeas and she is went to college.

i get 3 weeks vaca, 401k,stock,plus some stuff.

Sure there is some bad stuff but mostly good.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Frankly, I think this whole trend of slashing payroll, getting rid of employees, and forcing the ones who remain to do more started right around the time Wally World started expanding aggressively with their supercenters.

Reality is if the swamp's prices, or anybody else's prices get too high in comparison with Walmart's, everybody will just shop there and the other stores will go out of business.

Of course, my managers always put on the brave face when Walmart is mentioned and say "They're not our competetion" or "We offer a better value." It's a lie. They are our competition, at least in this town, and we're losing market share to them.

This town needs a Target in the worst way. So sick of having to visit the inbred carnival every time I need something the swamp doesn't carry. >.< (Don't take this the wrong way people: the workers at my local wally world are rather...special.)

sc: " BUT DON'T you watch the news, they are evil"

Actually, the biggest reason I don't watch the news is because I'm afraid that would turn me into somebody like him, who thinks he's smarter than everybody else simply because he watches the news.

[blas]

Oh my dog, Irv, that's hilarious and true where I live, too. I never know who is worse, but generally, it's the customers.

[Dracalous]

I currently work at Wal-mart, and it's the second-worst job I've ever had. The pay is fine and the benefits are damned dandy for my paygrade. The only shit part of the job is dealing with Management, certain coworkers, and Customers.