Visitor 2000

As I write this, it occurs to me that I cannot believe there are two thousand people that actually gave a rip about what I had to say. I know that I wrote a similar blog when this hit a thousand, and I promise to try not to make big deal about these after this. The whole thing started because I had received an email from the person who had hit the blog and changed it to one thousand. I was very excited about that, and that a person took the time to congratulate me on it was even nicer. The information that the person gave me about their community coordinator was even more interesting. Every one knows that Walmart does a lot for the community. It is one of the cornerstones of their operation. It makes them seem like wonderful members of a town, and not like blood sucking leaches that will destroy all of the local business in a given area. And that's always good, isn't it? But what I didn't know was that those community coordinators have a job that may look like a wonderful gig, but it isn't. First of all, whenever someone is begging for any kind of a handout, the first place they usually hit is Walmart. Walmart does give away a tremendous amount of gift cards and other prizes to community events. Another thing that Walmart does is raise money for Riley's Children's Hospital. They are a wonderful organization, and the good that they do can not be praised enough. However, the community coordinator in a Walmart is responsible for raising money to be donated to Riley's. And they have a quota. Yes, that's right. If the coordinator doesn't raise enough money to meet certain goals, they are held accountable for it. That explains why there is always some sort of begging going on there doesn't it? And in some stores, on a Manager's Birthday -they are required to dress up in a ridiculous costume and walk around the store begging for money. Again, it's all for a good cause, it just seems a little ham-fisted, you know? What if this manager has a deep seated conviction about soliciting money? What if this manager is painfully shy and doesn't want to put on a silly outfit and draw attention to himself? What if the place that they work doesn't give them a choice? But it is for a good cause, you can keep muttering that to yourself as you walk around begging. Another thing that the community coordinator has to do is orchestrate any Christmas party that the store may have. In some stores, the cheap management team elects to keep those funds for themselves, and there is no party. In some, there is a party in name only. I got an email from Heather, who told me about the wonderful Christmas parties that her old store manager gave. They were catered at an outside location, and they lasted for about 14 hours so that all of the shifts would be able to enjoy them. That is not the case now. The store manager that replaced him is more interested in the bottom line. His bottom line. He does not donate one red cent of his bonus to the party, and only allows so much to be store used from the deli. The Christmas drawings that they used to have had wonderful prizes, like free nights at a local hotel. Now, the prizes are the things that the store can beg from the merchandisers, and old displays. One lucky associate won a miniature tent display. Yes, one of those six inch tents that you may see in the sporting goods department. It will be very handy if he ever shrinks to the size of a weeble. But I suppose that he should just be grateful for something. The associates that win the larger prizes have been known to have to pay the taxes on the gift. How cheap and crappy is that? The largest company in the world, but if you win a prize worth more than fifty dollars, you have to pony up the taxes for it. Nice. If I ever get a corporate response, I'll let you know, and you can thank me later.