I love Wal-Mart

Ok, I'm a lawyer who makes decent money. On the other hand, I was raised by a mom who always espoused the "Scots" theory of watching one's pennies (at least she didn't say Jewish). As a result, I love Wal-Mart and buy most of my necessities there (t-shirts, DVDs, and the like...ok, maybe they're not all necessities).

I'm always intrigued by this: when I'm there, I'm shocked by the apparent "poverty" of those there. They are buying HD TVs, are significantly overweight, and almost always talking on a cell phone.

I'm always also amused by the waiting lists for potential employees whenever a new store opens. If they treat their employees so badly, why do so many line up?

VDH on a somewhat similar theme:

Likewise I try to go a Wal-Mart or mall once a week just to survey crowds. Yesterday I saw a nasty fight between two 40-something obese people over the last mechanized cart available. By rough calculus, I would wager that 40% of the shoppers were clearly overweight. Vegetables and fruit are still cheap by world standards, and the notion of widespread hunger is simply not true. The plague that is killing the lower middle-class is obesity. In the Dr.’s office two weeks ago, every single male patient (I went to the urologist for kidney stones) was 40 lbs. overweight—or more.