Wal-Mart Doesn’t Want Me as a Customer
I’m fat, I have diabetes, and I prefer a long-term, permanent job to part-time, short-term work. According to an internal Wal-Mart personnel memo recently obtained and published by the New York Times (free registration required), this makes me exactly the kind of employee Wal-Mart doesn’t want. Instead, they want to have workers who are healthy, skinny, and don’t stay long.
“Robin,” you say, “they’re talking about what they want in employees, not customers.
My response: “Don’t patronize a business that won’t hire you or people like you. If they don’t want to give you their money, why should you want to give them yours?”
I don’t mind if Wal-Mart wants to treat workers badly. It’s a private business, not a government agency. And I’m sure Wal-Mart spokespeople who say they are no worse than many other discount retailers are telling the truth. Nowadays, “We’re only being assholes because our competitors are assholes, too,” is used as an excuse for all kinds of nasty behavior.
But I don’t need to patronize — that is, support — this kind of behavior. Just as Wal-Mart is free to make nasty personnel decisions, I am free to shop elsewhere.
So good-bye, Wal-Mart. I never spent much in your stores anyway, so I’m sure the little bit of income you got from me won’t be missed.