Pillars of the Community

"To steal from a brother or sister is evil. To not steal from the institutions that are the pillars of the Pig Empire is equally immoral."  ~Abbie Hoffman

The city in East Texas where I live has over 100,000 people, but we only have two grocery stores to choose from: Walmart, and Brookshire's.

Brookshire's is ungodly expensive, and I believe that has more to do with the local social strata than anything else. There's a saying here, only partly in jest, that if you're less than third-generation then you're still the new kid. Brookshire's customers are willing to pay more not because of better quality or better choices, but simply because the higher prices keep out the riff-raff.

So those of us in the working class don't really have a choice. We have to go to Walmart because it's the only place we can afford.

The local Walmart recently remodeled, and only have three manned checkout lanes now. All the rest are self-checkout. The cashier told me that the last remaining three are going to be phased out, and everyone will have to scan and sack their own groceries.

I asked about my 88-year-old father. She said he'd have to learn to do it himself. I said he can't. She said he'll have to.

Walmart is one of the most profitable chains in America, and they're going to lay off their most underpaid workers.  They are counting on their customers to do their work for them, for free, so the stockholders can enjoy larger dividends.

Be super careful as you check out your own groceries. You sure don't want to make a mistake.