I don't post often on here, usually just a lurker but thought I'd share my experience from today. :2guns:
*sorry so long, cliff notes at bottom*
Today was my day off from work. The weather was perfect so I took my 1100 V-Star out for about 100 miles. They just opened up a WalMart SuperCenter about a week ago a mile from my house. On my way home from my ride I figured I'd stop in and check out the new store.
I did a lap around the interior and was heading towards the exit when I hear a bunch of commotion coming from the exit that I'm heading toward. A female employee stops me and asks if I'm a police officer, I told her no. She said "someone better call the police because someone just robbed us!".
When I get within eyesight of the exit I notice a shirt and pair of sunglasses laying on the floor and about 4 guys in blue shirts chasing a white male with no shirt on across the parking lot. The guy with no shirt on had quite a lead, about 50 yards, on the blue shirt employees. At this point I didn't know if the guy with no shirt on was a security guard who was chasing the thief or if he was the thief!
I had parked my bike at the first spot closest to that exit so I jumped on my cycle and headed toward the shirtless guy. At this point I had no intention of laying hands on him, I just wanted to see if he was the theif and if he was maybe I could somehow slow him down or follow him with my motorcycle until the employees caught up.
By the time I caught up with the guy he had slowed down to a slow jog. I noticed that he didn't have anything in his hands or tucked in his pants, weapons or merchandise. Not sure of what to say I came out with "Hey, are you the guy that just robbed the store?" He said it wasn't him it was his friend and that he didn't know why they were chasing him.
He was pretty incoherent and babbled something about his girlfriend living nearby. Then the numbnut say "Hey man, get me out of here!" and proceeds to throw his left leg over my bike and grabbed my left shoulder with his left hand. My first response was to bring my right elbow back as hard as I could. I caught him right in the face.
He fell backward off the bike and landed on his back in the driveway. As soon as that happened a small red car pulled up next to us and said to the the guy on the ground to hurry and get in. The guy with the sore face got up and jumped in the car and the took off like a bat out of hell.
I got the license number and gave it to the emplyees.
CLIFF NOTES:
Dude robs WalMart, runs across parking lot tries to get on the back of my cycle with me on it, he gets elbowed in the face. He jumps in friends car and takes off. I got license number.
fun who said going to wally world was borring :laugh:
WOW that's a story to tell. glad you are all right.
the problem is that they got away. If they didn't catch the guy leaving the propperty with the stolen merchendice they can no press charges without coherent confession from the thief. Since they apparently picked this guy up after you cocked him, they got away...doesn't matter what information you gave to the employees. You should have went to the police.
Quote from: makenzie71 on November 01, 2006, 09:00:40 PM
the problem is that they got away. If they didn't catch the guy leaving the propperty with the stolen merchendice they can no press charges without coherent confession from the thief. Since they apparently picked this guy up after you cocked him, they got away...doesn't matter what information you gave to the employees. You should have went to the police.
Right after I talked to the employees I went straight home. About 15 minutes later I decided to go back and talk to the police. There were two state cruisers in front of the building and I gave them all the information that I had. I never saw the guy steal anything or do anything illegal, that is why originally I wasn't even going to touch him.
When I talked to the employees right after hitting the guy, they were on the phone with the police already and gave them the license number right away.
Odds are they might never catch the guy but at least I didn't just stand around and do nothing.
You should get rid of the cliff notes version.
I liked the longer version. :laugh:
I'm glad the ass didn't take you down when he "fell" off the bike.
Quote from: annguyen1981 on November 01, 2006, 09:18:20 PM
You should get rid of the cliff notes version.
I liked the longer version. :laugh:
I'm glad the ass didn't take you down when he "fell" off the bike.
It was weird that he would even try to sit on the back of my bike though because when I ride without the wife I take off the rear pillion seat because I think the bike looks better without it. The jerkoff was trying to sit on the fender! I though at first that he might have broken off my rear signal lights because they stick out pretty far but he only bent my license plate bracket about 1/4 inch and it bent back without a problem. I think the reason the light didn't break off was because I hit him very, very hard at an upright angle and almost threw him off the bike with his face. He ended up landing totally flat on his back with his feet about a foot behind my bike, his face was pretty wrecked. :laugh:
This actually sounds familiar. One time when i was walking out of walmart a guy with a bag was trying to steal my Firebird. He had broken the window and was attempting to climb in. Lucky for me the police had already arrived and pulled him out and were standing on him. The police gave me the PR number and i called my insurance commpany and the thief repaired my car :thumb:
Very Nice!
Next time, you should run him down Mad Max style
nice job with the ol elbow to face! :thumb:
He was stealing from Walmart? You shouldn't have punched him in the face, you should have patted him on the back!
And yes, I'm half serious. Stealing is bad, but Walmart is evil.
Well done, animal mother! It's nice to see folks get involved (and not get hurt while doing so!)! :cheers: :thumb:
Quote from: brett on November 02, 2006, 12:04:04 PM
He was stealing from Walmart? You shouldn't have punched him in the face, you should have patted him on the back!
And yes, I'm half serious. Stealing is bad, but Walmart is evil.
I also promote theft from Wal-Mart...though I've hung up my own thieving gloves for few years now, I'm always more than happy to hear of someone who got something out of the store. However, in the situation, I would have stopped the guy. It's an ethical thing:
There is a such thing as "honor among thieves". That doesn't mean we all like or help or respect one another...it means that there's a common set of rules that we abide by. Failing to adhere to these rules means "thieves" in general don't like you. The biggest things on that list of rules is:
1. Targets have to be better off than whoever your actions are benefitting, or better off than you, which ever is greater.
2. The direct consequences of your actions can only effect those immediately involved in said actions.
3. If you're unable to get away from Wal-Mart unobserved, you're either getting careless, or do not belong in the "field"...the latter resulting in a need to be run down by a motorcycle in the parking lot.
I had a problem with that second one and retired from the game.
Why exactly is walmart evil...?
Wal-Mart isn't really evil. Wal-Marts are actually blessings to any community they pop up in. This is usually overlooked because the appearance of a Wal-Mart in any community essentially destroys small, local businesses, because they simply can not be competed with. Why is Wal-Mart good, though? Several reasons...the two biggest reasons are:
1st. The average supercenter employs over 400 people. This does not include the number of people Wal-Mart uses outside the company, like security agencies, carpenters, maintenance specialists, etc.
I can't really remember that second reason, though.
Quote from: makenzie71 on November 02, 2006, 03:38:56 PM
Wal-Mart isn't really evil. Wal-Marts are actually blessings to any community they pop up in. This is usually overlooked because the appearance of a Wal-Mart in any community essentially destroys small, local businesses, because they simply can not be competed with. Why is Wal-Mart good, though? Several reasons...the two biggest reasons are:
1st. The average supercenter employs over 400 people. This does not include the number of people Wal-Mart uses outside the company, like security agencies, carpenters, maintenance specialists, etc.
I can't really remember that second reason, though.
It employs over 400 people... at super low wage rates. Basically, Walmart uses its size and market position to squeeze every last penny they can out of workers and suppliers. Workers can't go anywhere else because Walmart put all the local shops out of business, and ditto for suppliers selling somewhere else.
over 400 people at "super low rates". You're looking at the "small" picture.
The store I worked at employed 453 people at the time I quit. Roughly 300 employees were on site 24 hours a day. The average pay at that store was $7.8923 per hour. That means that during the low-times, the store was putting $2,367.69 EVERY HOUR. That's $20,754,727.2374 put into the community every year. This isn't too far from the norm. That means that cities like Amarillo, Texas, which has four supercenters, the city is recieving almost $85 mil a year.
"Small business" can't do that for a community.
Very good point Makenzie. I was listening to NPR the other day and they were talking about the impact on the community of these auto plants shutting down. They said not only is the community out say 50k for the salary of that person but it is more like 250K because they purchase goods from other businesses and they purchase goods from others and so on. The impact is actually more than we know.
That's not a realistic argument. They aren't in business to lose money, every dollar that is paid out to employees was taken in from the same community, with a healthy profit margin. Meanwhile, the small businesses that might actually offer decent service, a fair wage to their employees, and a sense of local pride and culture are dying off. The only good thing to come out of it is the property tax revenues that the local govt. collects which may or may not be put to worthwhile means. Make no mistake, Wal-Mart is a predatory organization and our country would be better off without it.
Dude it's been proven time and time and time again that communities benefit greatly from having a Wal-Mart move in. The "small business" people are so fond of encouraging do not utilyze as many employees. Sure they get paid more, but then there's more people out there not getting paid. This means that more people have to leave town to find work. That means that their profit is down because they have to invest more money in fuel. That also removes income from other communities.
The way that you put it makes it sound like a closed circle...the money doesn't make "circles". It doesn't go community to wal-mart to employees to community to wal-mart to eployees to communityand so forth. The community does not pay Wal-Mart employees' wages. The corporation does. The benefit of having a branch of a HUGE multi-nation corporatoin move in is every store in the corpotration pays the employee's wages. That promotes substantial growth within smaller communities at very little sacrafice to larger ones. It allows a Supercenter in a small town to pump $2500 into it's employees every hour whether enough money to compensate is coming in or not...this is something else that's been proven time and time again: Wal-Mart automatically makes a community richer. The Wal-Mart in Cleveland, TX, operated at a substantial loss for nearly 15 years, and the community boomed because of it.
Quote from: brett on November 02, 2006, 05:57:38 PM
at super low wage rates.
They pay $9 an hour here starting. Which is above minimum wage which I believe is like $7.50 an hour. I know, it still isn't much. But it's more than all the other big companies pay. Look at fred meyer/kroger, they only pay minimum wage. So I'd say walmart is better than them.
Seconded. I never worked for minimum wage at Wal-Mart. When I started min/wage was $5~something and I started at $6.50. Within 30 days I was making $8.25.
Sorry Guys and Gals but Wally world is Evil.I will not shop there anymore.I've said this for the past 5-6 Years and I have stuck to my guns.I'm not going to Lower Myself to Roam thru the Crowds of Mindless Zombies to find a Good deal.I'm going to stick with the Smaller stores and Actually Spend my Money were it's needed at Stores Run by People that Need the Business.People trying to make an Honest living like you and Me.If I need some Rubbermaid Boxes (Walmart Actually almost Put Rubbermaid out of business) I'll buy it at the Dollar Store likewise with any cleaning Supplies such as Laundry Detergent,Dish Detergent ETC.More than Likely I get a better Deal There Anyway.Yes I have Even Bought Clothes from the Dollar Store.Most of the Clothes that the DS Sells is made in Africa ETC. and not China.The last Pillow I bought I got it at the Dollar store.Guess what it was made in the USA. :thumb: If I need Nails or Screws for Work Even though they costa Little More I give my business to my Local Hardware Stores.Sure it costs more but for the Extra I'm Paying it's still Cheaper than Buying gas to get to Wally World.Wallly World Good for the Community? Hell no most of the Cities Give them a break on Land taxes for so many years to get them to set up in the Community.What does this do? Where does these Lost Tax dollars come from? Our pockets.Sure they may be bringing in Sales Tax to the Community those Taxes thaat I spend at the Smaller places is doing the Same thing that they would do if they were being spent at Wally World.
Please People wake up and Smell the Coffee Wally World isn't what you think it is.Just do me one Favor go to our local Video Store and Rent "Wal-mart the High Cost of Low Price" and "Is Walmart Good For America?".If you rent thru Netflix they Also have them.Or Go to Wally World and see if they have them on the Shelf.I haven't been there to see but something tells me that they don't. :icon_lol: :icon_lol: I actually went to the Walmart Website and Typed in "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" in the Video Section and Guess What " We did not find any matches for "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" in the department you searched,"
I have Known too many People that have worked for The Local Wally world and they were Treated Like shaZam!.They Brought Home shaZam! pay.I know of one Woman that had worked there for going on 15 years.She was Bringing Home $7.50 an Hour before Taxes.Did She have Insurance? No. Does She need it? Yes she had worked there long enough to wear out the joints in Her Knees and had to have Knee Replacement Surgery.The Money from this Came out of Her Family's own Pocket.When she Got well enough to Hobble Back in the Door to do Her job Again they told her to get lost.My Aunt worked there for 5 years.If someone didn't show up to take Over for the Next Shift my Aunt had to say and take there place without any Overtime Pay.Would you work a 12-16 hour Shift for $5.50 a Hour?One Day my uncle Had a heart Attack on the Farm and Someone Called her at work to come home.When she had a Chance to go back to work when he got well enough to take Care of himself She didn't Have a Job.If it had't been for me and most of the Neighborhood he would have probably Lost his Farm Because a) He Couldn't Work.B)They Didn't Have enough Money to Run the Farm on because she didn't have a Job.People you could Probably see it my way if you woke up every Morning during the winter Months to Go Pull Calves in 0 Degree Weather,Shovel Silage to the Cattle twice a day standing in Snow Up to your Ass and trying to get A brand new Tractor Started because its so Cold that the Diesel is gelling in the Tank.Did Walmart Send some one out from the Business to Deliver Firewood to them in their time of need? Did Walmart Send Someone out to help Pull that Stuck Calf?Or Help Grade Tobacco Before the Market Closed?No but some of the Local Small Businesses Did. :thumb:
I'm no calling you a liar...but I have no problem saying that your family failed to read the employee handbooks and policies:
QuoteI know of one Woman that had worked there for going on 15 years.She was Bringing Home $7.50 an Hour before Taxes
Full time employees get 1~3% raise every quarter, depending on their performance, if they're passing their eval's. If she were only making netting $7.50 an hour, with no deductions, after 15 years, she should have been complaining, if not to the store or district managers, then to the home office.
QuoteWould you work a 12-16 hour Shift for $5.50 a Hour?
Not only is it against Wal-Mart policy to work an employee for over 8 hours (including a 1-hr lunch break) without paying overtime, it's
illegal. the only "out" is if she were a salary employee, and she would have had to been management to do that. Also, she would have had to been a full time employee to work longer thana 7 hour shift in one day, or more thn 28 hours in seven days. Anything over 28 hours in a week or 7 hours in a day is considered full time and they lose money and would have sent her packing before that magic number arose. Having been a full time employee, $5.50/hr after 5 years isn't appropriate, and this, as well as the hours issue, should have been brought up to the disctrict manager or the home office.
Wal-Mart employees are also not responsible for one another. It is against Wal-Mart's policy to force an employee to cover another employee's shifts. The schedules are like gold at the dstrict and home offices and they would have had someone's head on a pike in the parking lot for screwing with them. The absent employee, unless missing in action due to health related issues, and the store's manager at time would be the most immediate targets.
I'm not sure what wal-mart's policy on family illness, but I know that we let one lady off, on two occasions, for over a month each time, with no problem getting her back in.
QuotePeople you could Probably see it my way if you woke up every Morning during the winter Months to Go Pull Calves in 0 Degree Weather,Shovel Silage to the Cattle twice a day standing in Snow Up to your Ass and trying to get A brand new Tractor Started because its so Cold that the Diesel is gelling in the Tank.Did Walmart Send some one out from the Business to Deliver Firewood to them in their time of need?
Of course Wal-Mart didn't come out and help us...but you know what? Neither did the local "small business". We did the shaZam! on our own, what we could, and when someone DID come help it sure as shaZam! wasn't free. No one fights your battles for you.
I've watched both of those movies and saw nothing but propaganda...looked like bowling for columbine and political flicks and shaZam!.
Quote from: makenzie71 on November 03, 2006, 12:18:58 AM
I'm no calling you a liar...but I have no problem saying that your family failed to read the employee handbooks and policies:
QuoteI know of one Woman that had worked there for going on 15 years.She was Bringing Home $7.50 an Hour before Taxes
Full time employees get 1~3% raise every quarter, depending on their performance, if they're passing their eval's. If she were only making netting $7.50 an hour, with no deductions, after 15 years, she should have been complaining, if not to the store or district managers, then to the home office.
QuoteWould you work a 12-16 hour Shift for $5.50 a Hour?
Not only is it against Wal-Mart policy to work an employee for over 8 hours (including a 1-hr lunch break) without paying overtime, it's illegal. the only "out" is if she were a salary employee, and she would have had to been management to do that. Also, she would have had to been a full time employee to work longer thana 7 hour shift in one day, or more thn 28 hours in seven days. Anything over 28 hours in a week or 7 hours in a day is considered full time and they lose money and would have sent her packing before that magic number arose. Having been a full time employee, $5.50/hr after 5 years isn't appropriate, and this, as well as the hours issue, should have been brought up to the disctrict manager or the home office.
Wal-Mart employees are also not responsible for one another. It is against Wal-Mart's policy to force an employee to cover another employee's shifts. The schedules are like gold at the dstrict and home offices and they would have had someone's head on a pike in the parking lot for screwing with them. The absent employee, unless missing in action due to health related issues, and the store's manager at time would be the most immediate targets.
I'm not sure what wal-mart's policy on family illness, but I know that we let one lady off, on two occasions, for over a month each time, with no problem getting her back in.
QuotePeople you could Probably see it my way if you woke up every Morning during the winter Months to Go Pull Calves in 0 Degree Weather,Shovel Silage to the Cattle twice a day standing in Snow Up to your Ass and trying to get A brand new Tractor Started because its so Cold that the Diesel is gelling in the Tank.Did Walmart Send some one out from the Business to Deliver Firewood to them in their time of need?
Of course Wal-Mart didn't come out and help us...but you know what? Neither did the local "small business". We did the shaZam! on our own, what we could, and when someone DID come help it sure as shaZam! wasn't free. No one fights your battles for you.
I've watched both of those movies and saw nothing but propaganda...looked like bowling for columbine and political flicks and shaZam!.
Well said.
It also sounds like a store management problem to me if they are that stuck up. Plus you can't make somebody work overtime without pay, like mak said, it is against the law.
and guess what, I work for a small business......
When I go shopping for something...I usually end up getting it off the internet. But, if I need to go buy lets say a GPS unit and I go to the store and learn about it, if a place spends time with me and actually helping me, I will buy it from them, and if something doesn't require me to talk to anybody I will shop around.
I think the whole Wal-mart is evil bit is way over played.
You wanna job? You can work at Wal-mart. They don't let you pee ever 5 minutes? They don't let you smoke every 15 minutes? It is too hard? Too many hours? You don't make enough money?
Cry me a river, Timberlake. You can always. . . gasp. . . work somewhere else. Or not at all. I guarantee you the nerds that work at Starbucks don't make any more money than the Wal-mart workers. But nobody says, Starbucks is evil. I chose that example because it is as corporate as Wal-mart. I think people Buddha Loves You about Wal-mart just to hear their head rattle. Get pissed about some real issue in your world, not where someone CHOOSES to work. You're not entitled to shaZam!. If you can't make a living at Wal-mart, then quit and get a job at QT.
nah...people Buddha Loves You because a wal-mart put their family's general store or grocer out of business...so it's evil.
welcome to AMERICA :thumb:
if you don't like a policy or "way of life" then jump off the bandwagon and work some where else....
Walmart was a mom-pops store...why did it get so big....because it offered service and products...<That's the straight up fact>....some of that goes away when you expand to international levels and operate of a gigantic store chain.
ANOTHER THING
If walmart dosn't put mom-pops out of business E-commerance will some day. Even walmart will have to conform to internet consumers
one more final thing
Work for your pay, you want more than minimual wage act like it
I work in retail managment and I love the job. However I just can't take it when an employee complains about their pay, yet this employee is late consistantly, does not show performance or motivation gains in his/her work. Think of yourself as a company investment, OOOO BELIVE ME they will pay you more if you can demonstrate the ability that you are "worth" that pay increase. Retail stores have to make sales, to make sales they need employees to deliver service. I know at my store each and every hourly employee is given a raise every year, and every quarter there is a boat load of paperwork I have to fill out for my department as a review of progress, those who are exceptional in their work get a raise. So you could theoriticaly get 5 raises a year. And that's just for a "normal employee," a new employee receives a raise after 30days then another one after 90days. And the openings for promotions are eminent in retail.
Some Americans should read up on John Calvert's work ethics
Quote from: makenzie71 on November 03, 2006, 10:51:39 AM
nah...people Buddha Loves You because a wal-mart put their family's general store or grocer out of business...so it's evil.
Well, when they started selling cars it almost wrecked ma and pa's business. Didn't sell feed anymore. Had to sell tires. Well, when the highway came through it nearly wrecked ma and pa's business. They had to move up there by the interstate. Well, when they put a median strip in and it almost wrecked ma and pa's store. Access was right-in/right-out. Well, when they re-zoned the land it almost wrecked ma and pa's business. . .
Ma and Pa just have to trust and adjust. Adapt or die. That is true and yes, Wal-mart may put some small businesses under. But never feel sorry for someone because they work at Wal-mart. There are plenty of jobs out there for people that want to work.
Quote from: Jake D on November 03, 2006, 10:18:22 AM
But nobody says, Starbucks is evil.
Starbucks is sickening. Where I live, I can drive 1 mile and go by 4 starbucks. You can stand in one starbucks, and see another starbucks. It's stupid!
Quote from: Jace009gs on November 03, 2006, 12:37:45 PM
Walmart was a mom-pops store...
He's right. I believe Walmart is the biggest private company in American....isn't it...?
Ahem. . . Stan Kronke. Bill Laurie. Both graduates of my alma mater (the University of Missouri). They went on the best ski trip ever and met these two girls, the daughters of Bill Walton. Now, they are both worth 2.3 billion dollars. Well played, sirs. I can see you've got a little Captain in you.
Something else to consider when looking at Walmart, is that they're starting to rely on "eminent domain" to get their land. I don't have the #'s in front of me, but I recall Walmart (and Target/Best Buy/name your big box store) is working with politicians to sieze land so they can build more supercenters. The rationale is that they'll bring more tax $ in than the local businesses or private home owners they replace. Of course the government tends to condemn the land and pay pennies on the dollar for the property, but hey, that's big business.
I go back and forth on WalMart. It put lots of companies out of business in Gettysburg while supplying year-round jobs to the migrant workers who came from Mexico to pick apples. But they're also the only ones who carry this kick-ass wrench Srinath showed me and they're probably really going to help bring drug prices down across the board.
They're my last resort.
Quote from: MrDan on November 03, 2006, 02:59:59 PM
I recall Walmart (and Target/Best Buy/name your big box store) is working with politicians to sieze land so they can build more supercenters.
this would never go thru....
in beaverton oregon walmart is trying to put a store in, (the closest one is like 30-45 min away) which i have no problem with since we don't really have one, but the people in beaverton are fighting against it like mad.
Quote from: porsche4786 on November 03, 2006, 03:35:32 PM
Quote from: MrDan on November 03, 2006, 02:59:59 PM
I recall Walmart (and Target/Best Buy/name your big box store) is working with politicians to sieze land so they can build more supercenters.
this would never go thru....
in beaverton oregon walmart is trying to put a store in, (the closest one is like 30-45 min away) which i have no problem with since we don't really have one, but the people in beaverton are fighting against it like mad.
Unfortuantely it is happening in some places. I'll see if I can dig up the articles. One was in Wired.