# So Wal-Mart sucks? I pit you if you think this. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 30, 2004, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301 "2004-11-30T08:00:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/141 "2004-12-01T04:53:04Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > You are the biggest dipshit I have ever seen on this board. Cite one (ONE!) case the ACLU has taken that has involved an EEOC or OSHA violation. You won’t be able to. Know why? Because the ACLU takes on cases involving constitional violations. > > Wal-Mart is a corporation. It is fundamentally incapable of a constitutional violation. > > Dumbass. Pffft. It’s **duffer** you’re dealing with here. All them lefty pinko faggot organizations are all the same - you really expect him to be able to keep track of all of them? Hey **duffer** , let me pre-write your next 100 posts for you. \*10 FOR I = 1 to 100 20 PRINT “GWB is god. Lefties all suck. If you’re not a Republican you’re a terrorist and probably a faggot, too. The Bill of Rights really has too much in it…let’s get rid of some. I know this one person who got a discount from a convicted pedophile, so they’re not all bad.” 30 Next I \* There you go, big guy. Feel free to take the next week off. Maybe you can go shoot some hippies or something. -Joe, doesn’t like hippies ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/142 "2004-12-01T04:57:05Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > Oh, no, they pay the average worker almost TWICE the minimum wage ($5.15). > > The horrors of it all!!! Or what Wesley Clark said in post #137. Never mind, carry on. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/143 "2004-12-01T04:59:43Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > Oh, no, they pay the average worker almost TWICE the minimum wage ($5.15). > > The horrors of it all!!! _If_ they paid $10/hr then there’d be no problem. But they do not, they pay around [$7.50](http://www.dsausa.org/lowwage/walmart/why_walmart.html), which is a huge difference for low wage workers. The difference is $400 a month in pre-tax income. As I have said in other threads, I worked for a gas station that payed $5.45 for dangerous work (working in a gas station at night is dangerous), and I got no benefits whatsoever. The fact that walmart pays $2/hr more and offers 401k and health insurance would’ve been a step up. It doesn’t change the tactics walmart uses to strongarm suppliers or their unethical anti-union tactics but they are not the worst company when it comes to wages & benefits for their low wage workers. On that front they are probably no worse than most of the companies that employ the other 50 million low wage workers in america. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/144 "2004-12-01T05:00:59Z")
One worker earns $1 an hour. The other one earns $100 an hour. See! The average is $50 dollars an hour! Everyone makes good money. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/145 "2004-12-01T05:01:58Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > He’s like all right wingers. He has his. The hell with everyone else. **Reeder** you need to stop doing this, it’s not going to help. I’m sure someone will dig up 50 posts where I did the same thing, but hey, I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/146 "2004-12-01T05:04:05Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > **Reeder** you need to stop doing this, it’s not going to help. > > I’m sure someone will dig up 50 posts where I did the same thing, but hey, I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. Are you telling me duffer isn’t a right winger??? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/147 "2004-12-01T05:07:41Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > One worker earns $1 an hour. > > The other one earns $100 an hour. > > See! > > The average is $50 dollars an hour! > > Everyone makes good money. > > :rolleyes: LMAO. If we moved all the poor people, bill gates, donald trump, ted turner, the waltons and a few other people to rhode island, seceeded rhode island and calculated average income we could cure poverty. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Llama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@The\_Llama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Llama)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/148 "2004-12-01T05:08:26Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Are you telling me duffer isn’t a right winger??? He’s telling you that your post was worthless and did nothing but add an extra post to your count. I know it’s the pit, but this has been an interesting debate with cites and good arguments on both sides, even if some of the good arguments included name calling. Your’s was just name calling without anything else. Worthless. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/149 "2004-12-01T05:10:10Z")
> [@The\_Llama](#): > > He’s telling you that your post was worthless and did nothing but add an extra post to your count. I know it’s the pit, but this has been an interesting debate with cites and good arguments on both sides, even if some of the good arguments included name calling. Your’s was just name calling without anything else. Worthless. And this post of yours is…? Worthy? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Llama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@The\_Llama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Llama)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/150 "2004-12-01T05:10:37Z")
Yes, if it gets you to stop doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/151 "2004-12-01T05:13:18Z")
> [@The\_Llama](#): > > Yes, if it gets you to stop doing it. In your opinion of course. You do know what opinions are like don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/152 "2004-12-01T05:18:00Z")
Interesting: [http://www.counterpunch.org/cox04202004.html](http://www.counterpunch.org/cox04202004.html) $9.68: Average hourly living wage as defined by 22 of the U.S. cities and towns that passed living wage ordinances between 2000 and 2004 $9.60: Average hourly wage Wal-Mart could pay if one-third of its current profits were diverted to pay its U.S. employees instead $9.54: Average hourly wage Wal-Mart could afford to pay if it raised its prices an average of 1% $9.32: Average hourly wage Wal-Mart could pay if the current annual dividend going to its stockholders were diverted to pay its U.S. employees $9.15: Hourly wage that Dana Mailloux was earning at a Ft. Myers, Florida Wal-Mart when she and more than a dozen similarly paid employees were laid off because of “lack of work”, after which, as they were leaving the store, they noticed “six new hires – red vests in hand – filling out paperwork,” and then that next weekend saw Help Wanted ads on the store’s bulletin board $8.00: Approximate nationwide average hourly wage for Wal-Mart employees ---
**Author:** ![The\_Llama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@The\_Llama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Llama)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/153 "2004-12-01T05:22:19Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > In your opinion of course. > > You do know what opinions are like don’t you? I give up, are they like overused cliches that fail miserably to make a point? Are you also saying that my opinion about namecalling in a debate is one not widely held? You honestly think that you’ll help the side you’re arguing for by using insults without actually posting anything of substance? Back to contributing, what you mentioned earlier about fear of a libel lawsuit, is this something you know for a fact, or was this just some wild assumption based on nothing? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/154 "2004-12-01T05:23:30Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Interesting: > > $9.15: Hourly wage that Dana Mailloux was earning at a Ft. Myers, Florida Wal-Mart when she and more than a dozen similarly paid employees were laid off because of “lack of work”, after which, as they were leaving the store, they noticed “six new hires – red vests in hand – filling out paperwork,” and then that next weekend saw Help Wanted ads on the store’s bulletin board > > $8.00: Approximate nationwide average hourly wage for Wal-Mart employees So, were they fired for being women, thinking about unionizing, or to replace them with employees who WEREN’T making $1.15 above the Walmart average? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/155 "2004-12-01T05:24:36Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > _If_ they paid $10/hr then there’d be no problem. But they do not, they pay around [$7.50](http://www.dsausa.org/lowwage/walmart/why_walmart.html), which is a huge difference for low wage workers. The difference is $400 a month in pre-tax income. So let’s see, Frontline, a respected public broadcasting news organization, says they pay $10/hr, but your cite, from the Democratic Socialists of America [cough], claims they pay only $7.50. I’ll take my chances with the PBS cite being closer to the truth, if it’s all the same to you. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/156 "2004-12-01T05:28:48Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > As to the “not my problem”? I disagree… You, of course, are free to disagree. No skin off my ass. 🙂 Sam ---
**Author:** ![The\_Llama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@The\_Llama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Llama)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/157 "2004-12-01T05:30:24Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > So let’s see, Frontline, a respected public broadcasting news organization, says they pay $10/hr, but your cite, from the Democratic Socialists of America [cough], claims they pay only $7.50. I’ll take my chances with the PBS cite being closer to the truth, if it’s all the same to you. You should have read the link > [@](#): > > **According to Forbes** , the self-styled capitalist tool, employees at Wal-Mart currently earn an average hourly wage of $7.50 Bolding Mine. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Llama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@The\_Llama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Llama)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/158 "2004-12-01T05:34:40Z")
Also from the article… all the way at the bottom > [@](#): > > \*Our factual references are from information provided in company filings and news articles as reported by United for a Fair Economy as well as Reuters, Forbes, Fortune and the World Bank. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/159 "2004-12-01T05:39:01Z")
> [@The\_Llama](#): > > Also from the article… all the way at the bottom This is assuming he deals with the facts from reality, something I’m not so sure about. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301/160 "2004-12-01T05:46:01Z")
> [@GaWd](#): > > You, of course, are free to disagree. No skin off my ass. 🙂 > > Sam I should HOPE not!!! Owie 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-wal-mart-sucks-i-pit-you-if-you-think-this/277301.md?page=9)