by penni d.
Member since:
September 12, 2007

New Poll......wal-mart symbolizes America? Say it isn't so, George Clooney!

September 28, 2009 06:04 AM UTC (Updated: September 28, 2009 06:07 AM UTC)
views: 0 | comments: 38

                                                    AP gave the results of a poll run by CBS which says
wal-mart is the institution that symbolizes America today....oh, boy!!!! Are we in trouble or What? Wal-Mart is in the news often as a company that does not exactly treat employees well. Most of Wal-marts products are made overseas in countries that use child or slave-like labor......uh oh!!! What ever happened to the institution of  American pie? did it die when the levy went dry?
                                                      The poll, taken the last week in august, also says we would rather trade places with George Clooney for a week than with our President  ((a no brainer)) and we would rather trade with First Lady Michelle than *Gasp* Angelina Jolie (( Has America's love affair with Angelina finally died down?)).
                                                      Poll also says more than 33% of people think Twitter is a passing fad (( um huh, where did we hear THAT before?))
                                                       Now, I don't know about YOU, but if these 1,097
people polled are REALLY speaking for our Country, then I am a befuddled....what about YOU? What institution do YOU think best symbolizes America today?

Comments: 38

penni d. Sep 28, 2009, 6:17am UTC
better Twitter while it's hot,lol
Lori Cee Sep 28, 2009, 9:59am UTC
you're always hawt, momma!
Nancy Paoletti Sep 28, 2009, 7:06am UTC
Hmmmm.... near slave labor practices with low wages, just under full-time work weeks (but work off the clock during breaks and lunches and after you clock out) and no insurance is now considered a symbol of the United States? How sad is That?
penni d. Sep 28, 2009, 7:17am UTC
that's the scarey part, nancy!
Heather - child of God, C. Sep 28, 2009, 7:13am UTC
I'd like to know where they found this people?? Leaving Walmart with posters of George Clooney and a Star magazine featuring the first lady..

:) but I'd agree with the George Clooney pick. I'd hate to have to make decisions all day and hide my smoking. Oops, I don't smoke but the president does. I think few men would want to share a house with their mother in law, even if it is a big one like the white house.
penni d. Sep 28, 2009, 7:18am UTC
oh, ha ha, Heather...I didn't know the President smoked! We can bet it isn't cigars,lol
Sheila Deeth Sep 30, 2009, 10:04pm UTC
Oh, I like that Heather. I can just see the interviewers waiting to pounce in the parking lot.
JOHN BECK Sep 28, 2009, 7:17am UTC
"If the shoe fits...." Wake up, America! What does that tell us about us?
Esther IS Flesh and Blood S. Sep 28, 2009, 8:01am UTC
REALLY.
penni d. Sep 28, 2009, 8:10am UTC
I know those 1,097 people are NOT speaking for ME! What say ye?
JOHN BECK Sep 28, 2009, 9:24am UTC
Not for me either, Penni!
Curt L. Sep 29, 2009, 11:39am UTC
Nor for me, Penni!
Shirley ♡ ☮ M. Sep 30, 2009, 1:07am UTC
Not me either, Penni!
Shells M. Sep 28, 2009, 10:24am UTC
I think they went to people who are not american citizens.. I am shocked!!
Also it is very easy to find alot of people who are out of work that would say that for a Walmart Gift Card!!
This is sad!
PS I am back!
penni d. Sep 28, 2009, 6:44pm UTC
shells! yay! How was your trip, girlfriend?
Rose Hill Sep 28, 2009, 10:35am UTC
Sure it does - haven't you heard about the people that got married at Walmart and their plans for having a sort of a walk-in clinic there (that alone should be stuff for a horror novel) I can just see the first outbreak of the swine flu traced to Walmart:)

Heck, all you need for happiness, is believing that Walmart is the only place that saves you money and when SS is not enough - just think you can depend on Walmart to employe you as a greeter!
(don't think I've ever seen a female greeter there - not sure if that discrimation - or if it just proves once again, that women are smarter then men.:)

You'll be happily ignorant about the small businesses it shuts down or the negative effect it has on the community in the long run when Walmart explains to their workers how they can take advantage of all the subsidies in their community for which they have now become eligible for, incl foodstamps, because they don't pay their employees enough.

It truly perfectly personifies the American Greed err Dream:)

Ignorance is alive and well.

Happy Monday Morning across the bay - to you, Penni!:)
Darlene B. Sep 28, 2009, 10:40am UTC
Walmart is taking over our minds and personal wallets. And only just a little over 1000 people responded, this is scary business.
Barb Carlson Sep 28, 2009, 11:07am UTC
That's definitely scary. A friend of mine just took a job with Walmart. I warned her that they are notorious for treating their employees badly. We'll see what she says.
penni d. Sep 29, 2009, 8:18am UTC
A good boss is what makes a good store for employees, Barb...maybe your friend got lucky
Barb Carlson Sep 29, 2009, 10:27am UTC
I agree. She hasn't worked there long enough to know if she has a good boss or not. I was wondering if this "working after you're punched out" thing was localized to certain managers or if it was a corporate policy.
Heather M. Sep 28, 2009, 2:28pm UTC
Walmart representative of America? Sadly, it is and has been for quite a while.

Twitter a passing fad? Nope. The people saying that are indulging in a heavy case of wishful thinking.

Even before I started tweeting, I knew that Twitter wasn't a passing fad. Now that I'm on there, that belief has been reconfirmed.

Michelle rather than Angelina? It would be fun to trade places for a day or two with either of them.
vivi emerson Sep 28, 2009, 2:45pm UTC
well these are the people who had the time to answer the poll! I know that they treat their employees not so great. But at least they do hire senior citizens. And, unfortunately, getting paid more than 25K a year is a rare thing for most people, regardless of employer. But with big companies setting the low pay, no insurance bar, then the others will all follow.

It is just not common for businesses to value their support staff.
David E. Sep 28, 2009, 2:53pm UTC
How many of you have worked at Wal-Mart?
How many of you shop at Wal-Mart.?
The working conditions and benefits at Wal-Mart are no worse then any retail store, and no union dues to cut into the wages. Competitive wages, health care opportunities for full time employees, a stable job if you want to work, jobs for retirees and disabled.
Why don't we make sure every store in a Mall goes by the same standards.
If it's so bad, how do they get so many people to work in so many stores.
It's the competition and the unions that are crying because they don't get their share.
penni d. Sep 29, 2009, 8:21am UTC
They have good points, of course, David. I worked there when Sam's VALUES were still in effect. There does not sem to be much AMERICAN to the stores anymore, and that is my point. :)
Barb Carlson Sep 29, 2009, 10:31am UTC
David: They've been convicted of requiring employees to work AFTER they were punched out. That's illegal. Wouldn't you "cry about" that if you worked for 8 hours and were paid for 7? This is the kind of thing unions try to prevent. People don't want paid for more than they work, they want paid for the hours they DO work.
Kris M. Sep 29, 2009, 10:38am UTC
Most retail stores do share these poor standards, and in an economy like this one, they're counting on a need for people to accept whatever jobs they can get. Regarding whatever seems to be under your skin about unions, if a retail store paid union wages -- and the large stores, such as Wal-Mart, could certainly afford to -- dues would be a pittance by comparison to the raise the workers could get. I don't imagine you work a 50- or 60-hour week, for which you should be thanking the American labor movement instead of trying to demonize it by comparison to a big-box store.
David E. Sep 30, 2009, 3:36am UTC
First, like it or not we are in a global economy. Second, I have heard of them making people work hours off the clock, and it's not just Wal Mart but they are the one people remember. Third, yes I am anti Union. Unions have helped the regular workers a lot, but they are now mostly a legal aid system since most of the reason they came about have now been made into law. They help the workers with their benefits and with their retirement. But by brining unions into places like Wal-Mart you raise prices. Then the money that the union workers get has to be risen, a never ending cycle. Those of us who don't work union are left behind to suffer. It's like every time they raise minimum wage, the average income goes up but then so does how much we have to spend to get what we did at lower costs. Unions now cause inflation and an unequal world, making a lower class that has grown and to make the poverty level 4 times the average income of the US years ago. I have studied both history and economy and can see where I think things are going. Only Wall Street and the government has done more to ruin our economy.
Steph-in-NE ..... Sep 28, 2009, 5:11pm UTC
walmart is one of the largest company here and world wide, it been said this is why folk bashing it all the time,,, gee supply from other places they may have a walmart were they get thier stuff from too,, ever thought of that,,
didnt know target was only american made stuff nor kmart or anywhere
look at the dollar general stuff.. OH my we buy else where
G.M. Jackson Sep 29, 2009, 3:29pm UTC
Great post! The solution is simple though: don't shop at Wal-Mart. Offer to pay more for every item you purchase so companies can afford to take better care of their employees.
Lisa Frost Bailey Sep 29, 2009, 7:13pm UTC
They certainly aren't speaking for me either! Yikes!
Sunaura *. Sep 30, 2009, 12:50am UTC
It's a catch-22, some of the malls are closing
Sheila Deeth Sep 30, 2009, 10:05pm UTC
Isn't there a statistic somewhere about the number of people who never fill in surveys? Wish I could find one anyway.
First off...a little over 1,000 people is not near a large enough group to poll for such a nation wide question...so the poll in null and void in my mind.

Next thought...Most Polls make no sense what so ever.
William Dotani Oct 3, 2009, 3:54am UTC
I live day to day by what the polls say. Now you have made me soooooo confused.
William Dotani Oct 3, 2009, 3:52am UTC
Our society is so hedonistic that we've put cheap before quality. This hurts our culture.
Ms Lee P. Oct 4, 2009, 10:26pm UTC
I love Wal Mart.
Donald M. Oct 7, 2009, 1:55pm UTC
I know I hate the fact that they do not have quality American merchandise anymore. But if the plants have been shut down, or merchandise is made in foreign countries, we have to get it from whereever we can. Even at the best of the best stores. The quality of things is still crappy.
I went to the best place and paid $20 for a can opener, just because it was the color of my kitchen. It has never opened the first can of anything. I probably could have gotten the same one at Walmart,,,it may or may not have worked any better, but would have been cheap. This was just a hand operated opener.
I, apparently, am not a poll-worthy person. I've never been asked to fill out a survey.

I think also that the original owners values were good, real and honest. Things changed for the worse after he passed away. Our state isn't large, it's CT. A Walmart in one of the cities here is going out of business here. It was huge news. The news actually showed people picketing to have it stay open.

The USA produces some of the best things, or used to. Since nobody is able to afford the goods, places are going under left and right. Unemployment doesn't pay the bills or allow you insurance. When it runs out, if you make it that far, it gets worse. Some people have family they can stay in -- others have nobody.

Polls are so inaccurate, they confuse the hell out of me.

Marilyn

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