Crooked is as Crooked Does

I have to give credit to one of my favorite movies for today's title. I read the book by Winston Groom, and I think that the people who wrote the screen play did one heck of a job with the material that they had at hand. But enough of good movies. I had an interesting email from a Walmart associate who took offense with the way that I described the happiest bunch of retailers in the whole wide world. It would seem that anonymous (who emails me quite often, by the way) had his/her (?) tail in a twist because I was explaining the problem that another e-mailer (this one not anonymous, but shy) was having getting any help while they were trying to shop. I went on to explain that I have done the very job that I was complaining about. I know how frustrating it is to have an idiot customer with a ridiculous complaint. But when Walmart was still signing my checks, I had to take it. Now that I am free at last ,free at last, thank God almighty free at last-I feel I can criticize because as the saying goes-been there;Done that. But enough of my resume. There was a time when Walmart had an amazing base of loyalty. It was not that long ago when they were voted one of the "most admired companies" by I think Fortune 500. But something has happened, and not for the betterment of Walmart, it's associates, or it's customers. What happened? Well, it's pretty simple to put your finger on that. What seems to have happened is that Walmart has quit giving a crap about anything except their bottom line. All of the things that made it such an outstanding company is quickly getting shuttled off to the sidelines in a sacrifice to the almighty bottom line. Associates who have devoted a large part of their lives have been forced out the door. Why? Because it's more cost effective (read cheaper) for Walmart to replace an associate who is earning $17.00 dollars an hour with someone who is going to start at $6.50. And that associate who is starting off won't have 4 weeks of paid vacation coming to them. That new associate also won't be grandfathered in to double time on Sundays,either. Not too shabby for a company who is trying to save a few million in payroll, is it? Walmart used to be a great place to have a career. Now, any one who has had the intoxication of orientation wear off, can tell you that the ideas and scruples that used to be in place are no longer there. Not that very long ago, there was a memo floated around that was reputed to be from a higher up in the Walmart food chain. This higher up had released a memo explaining that if Walmart did away with the majority of their associates who had been with the company for more than 8 years, the savings that Walmart would enjoy would be astronomical (my word) actually in the words of the memo- "in the millions." Disclaimers were quickly released poo-pooing (again, my word) the validity of the memo, but fast forward a few years, and what is this I see? The floor littered with long term associates who have been cast aside like a used tissue. In my opinion this is crooked. Crooked and wrong. How much did Lee Scott get in bonuses last year? How much did the other higher ups receive? And before we forget, the perks that the regular old members of management receive are pretty sweet also. Maybe not golden parachutes- but still a lot better than the empty knapsacks that the hourly associates are given when they are cast asunder. What can be done? That part is hard to say. The media has been complaining and or defending Walmart for so long that most people are numb to the problems. But if something isn't done about this soon, many hard working people are going to have their world's turned upside down when they are terminated from the jobs that they have had for so long. Call someone and complain. Elected officials, newspapers, 1.800.WALMART, someone. If enough people turn the light of public scrutiny on this problem, maybe they will be forced to stop. And if someone you care about gets to save their job, you just might thank me later.