Yes, it’s another Wal-Mart rant.
1. I’d like to know how much shelf space Wal-Mart gives in its grocery aisles to pre-processed foods–cookies, crackers, frozen meals, etc. I’m afraid the number would be staggeringly high.
2. Good luck trying to prepare an Indian dish when shopping at the big W. No curry paste (yes, they have curry powder, but no, I’m not feeling like figuring out how to transmogrify it), no mango chutney (the jellies and jams section is reminiscent of Henry Ford’s color choices for the Model T), and no mincemeat filling. Actually, I don’t think I needed the mincemeat for the Indian dish (yes, I’m trying to broaden my horizons beyond naan bread), but still…. If you’re Hispanic, you’re covered pretty easily. If you’re Asian…. eh. It’s much like Chinese restaurants. They don’t serve authentic stuff but more Americanized versions of Chinese dishes. Italian? Again, Americanized, but you can find a decent variety of pastas there, some of them not made by Kraft and containing a packet of cheese sauce. Other cuisines? Let’s sing:
It’s a Small World
If I earwormed you with that or you managed to make it through the entire video, my deepest condolences.
3. The modern man has become a nocturnal hunter-gatherer at the big W. While the wife and kids are back in the cave, then men grab their steel chariots and move in synchronized chaos, consulting shopping lists, occasionally trading the knowing glance of “you too, huh”, as they waltz from the back of the store to the front. We forage mightily, searching for camouflaged prey (“store brand? What?”), always consulting the sacred parchment with the order of the hunt.
I still have a love/hate relationship with Wal-Mart. Check that: it’s more tolerate/hate.