Doing business with the Devil
by M. Stewart
Brian DiTullio’s ORL article, Customer Service, sparked an interesting discussion. Because of one of my comments that included a reference to Chinese goods retailer Wal-mart, one poster left us a link to a Wal-mart fact sheet regarding the company’s “Store of the Community” policy, which tells us that the company purchases some of its grocery-side produce from American sources.
Due to the perishable nature of fresh produce, it only makes sense that Wal-mart would purchase some of its fruit and vegetables from American producers. On other products, the fact sheet is more vague, indicating that Wal-mart purchases “from companies in more than 70 countries worldwide, including nearly 61,000 U.S. businesses—large and small. These relationships support more than 3 million U.S. jobs.”
I’m sure most ORL readers have seen documentaries and read books/articles about how Wal-mart does business. There is little doubt that the world’s largest company is devoted to bringing the American consumer low prices, and on one level—the one that affects our pocketbooks—Wal-mart’s business model does us all a great service. But there are other levels that indirectly affect our pocketbooks, not to mention our way of life, that everyone should be aware of before they become disciples of Sam Walton and evangelists for his company.
For anyone who doesn’t know about the dark side of Wal-mart, read something from an independent business publication like Fast Company: The Wal-mart You Don’t Know.
Please understand that I spend a lot of money at Wal-mart for no other reason than the low prices. That doesn’t mean I like the place, only that I take advantage of it, so I am fully aware that on this issue I speak with a very obvious forked tongue. However, there’s yet another side to the Wal-mart coin. (Sorry about the mixed metaphor.)
Not long ago in a class discussion, one of my students mentioned that she avoids Wal-mart in order to save money, and this is a woman with a family, who admitted that she manages her home on a very tight budget. She pointed out that because of Wal-mart’s one-stop shopping, consumers are enticed to spend a great deal more money than they intended due to the sheer number of cheap goods available.
Anyone who shops at Wal-mart knows how this works. You go there to buy groceries, but you end up buying lots of other stuff. Jo and I do this all the time. We go with the intent of purchasing $50 worth of groceries and end up spending $100 or more on other stuff (or vice versa). Call it lack of discipline or just plain consumer idiocy, but we still do it.
A counter argument says that if you drive around shopping at different stores looking for sales and bargains on individual items, you end up spending more on gasoline than if you’d just got all your stuff at Wal-mart. Clearly, there is truth in both arguments. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to be affluent enough to not worry about how much money I spend, but like most people, I’ve not achieved that level of monetary success.
One ORL poster wrote, “You can hate Wal-mart all you want and it won't make one bit of difference. Wal-mart isn't going to fall apart because you don't shop there and you aren't influencing anyone to stop shopping there by saying you hate the place.”
This is true. Wal-mart is too big to be influenced by any individual or group deciding not to shop there. But in a way, this is the problem, isn’t it? When a retailer the size of Wal-mart can change the economic structure of the entire world with no concern whatsoever for the damage it does to local economies, when Wal-mart can entice millions of customers who have lost their jobs at the local manufacturing plant because the company moved to China so it could sell cheaper products to Wal-mart, the battle is already lost.
The truth is that people are going to flock to Wal-mart for lower prices regardless of what they know about the company. Case in point: We recently purchased a microwave oven at Lowe’s for $200 only to find the exact same product at Wal-mart for $100. This may be a drastic example, but it’s one I won’t easily forget. What reasonable person would spend twice the amount on an appliance at one corporate superstore when he can buy the same thing at half the price at another corporate superstore?
Welcome to the 21st century economy. In truth, we have no one to blame but ourselves, but the Devil made us do it. Our inability or refusal to connect the dots, our own personal greed, our worship of convenience, our love affair with the suburbs--pick your poison. It all adds up to Wal-mart.
By the way, it turns out that Lowe’s and Wal-mart are not connected after all. Apparently the rumor has been going around, especially in Ohio. I’d heard it so many times from different people that I assumed it must be true. (That’s the danger of rumors, I know. So go ahead and kick me for it. I deserve it.) Given that the two stores often locate beside one another and that they have the same basic store design and business model, it was easy to believe the story.
When a co-worker of mine told me that the Wal-mart-Lowe’s rumor was not true, I asked her to post her findings, but she refused to do so. Since she has not, I will do it for her. Lowe’s is, in fact, an independently traded corporation. If there is a genuine connection between Lowe’s and Wal-mart, it's not apparent except in the rumor mill. BTW, I have removed my comment that passed on the rumor.
posted by M. | 8:25 AM
34 Comments:
I'll just start by saying I love Walmart, I love the new business model, and I love free trade.
But one of the biggest problems with Walmart is the way they are abusing Ohio's (and other state's) public healthcare system for lower income workers (Medicaid).
It has been well-studied, but what Walmart does is intentially schedule their workers for less than a full time work week (less than 40 hours).
Therefore according to their policy, they do not have to provide any sort of health care benefits to their "part-time" employees. But since Walmart employees aren't usually hauling in big money, they can't afford to purchase health care insurance themselves. Instead, they qualify for Medicaid.
Essentially this means that Walmart is outsourcing it's health care policy to the taxpayers of Ohio. We are paying lower prices to shop there, but we are also paying for their employees health care system because Medicaid costs increase so dramatically statewide.
After all, Walmart is Ohio's largest employer.
Matt, you're exactly right about that: I go to WalMart to purchase "a few" groceries (the staples: bread, milk, lunch meat) and come home with $150 worth of "stuff" most of which I don't NEED but WANTED.
On the other hand, I stop in at Dollar General to pick up milk and bread (can't really get lunch meat there but can at Bereford's next door) and come home with JUST WHAT I NEEDED.
That said, I also spend MUCH more money if I stop in at Giant Eagle, especially the Calcutta version, because it has such a nice selection but it's prices are disgustingly higher than WalMart for its groceries. How can two stores located within a mile of each other have such different prices? It's sickening.
Here's something else: I was in Salem Friday morning for an appointment. happened to notice gas was $3.09 at the shell station next door. When I came out of the appointment an HOUR later, that gas sign had changed to $3.29!!! In ONE HOUR, gas went up 20 cents. Disgusting.
Anyone who thinks this country (or at least OHIO) isn't in a recession, actually closer to a depression, is kidding himself.
The groceries I do buy are significantly higher than they were a year ago at this time. I'm not talking about a reasonable increase like 5 or 10 cents but DOLLARS increases. And it's all due to gasoline prices.
Someone in government better do something or we're going to go broke.
I am actually scared. I have toyed with the thought that I may end up in bankrupcy if things don't change. I'm spending more than $200 a month on gas and that's only for work travel and another $180-$200 for groceries for TWO people.
Not only do they have low prices,they will match any retailer on items. Case in point;
Milk or soda, we watch for it to go on sale at Krogers or Giant Eagle, and they will match it. You have to get their brand of milk, but hey saving 50 to 60 cents a gallon with a family is good news these days. I along with you Matt, feel the same way about Wal Mart, but we consumers must find a way to feed our families any was we can.
This is changing the subject but I'm surprised you, Matt, or any of your posters haven't been outraged about the gas checks being given to low income people to help them buy gas to get to work.
I, personally, am sick to death of subsidizing welfare people. I understand a person does not actually have to be receieving welfare benefits to get the money, but you can bet three-fourths of the money is going to welfare recipients, not people who are really WORKING poor.
It's my understanding a portion of our phone bill also goes to pay for welfare recipients to have telephone service.
How f-ing nice! I work 45-50 hours a week and am barely making it and NO ONE gives me money for my phone or gas.
You can also bet they will figure out a way to abuse this gas allowance like they do everything else:trading it for beer, cigarettes and drugs.
I am so sick to death of this. There will soon be only the haves and the have-nots. There will be no middle class for us who work our lives away.
Sorry for the rant but this just pisses me off.
My wife is an employee of Wal Mart. She is an hourly worker and has medical insurance as well as dental(which is NOT offered at the Union plant I work at). She also makes more per hour than people who have worked a similar amount of time in my plant. If Wal Mart went Union tomorrow, all this Wal Mart bashing would end instantly. And the only big change would be a bunch of Union bosses would be alot richer. Wal mart is no worse that any other big corperation, they just happen to be in the Union gun sites right now.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned where to buy your groceries for really cheap -- Aldi's. They don't have all the fancy brands, but their brands are good, you can get your basics there and spend about half of what you do at Giant Eagle or WalMart, well, at least Giant Eagle. And it's cheaper than WalMart. Another good place for some grocery items is Big Lots. Where else can you buy a huge box of Cheerios for $3? Not generic cereal, either..name brands, and just about any kind of cereal you could want. It's not old and it's not seconds. I won't buy my cereal anywhere else. They have great buys on other cereal items too. And Dollar General is way, way cheaper on cleaning supplies than Wal Mart is. There are ways to save money, but you have to look around. Not that I don't go to WalMart, too. I work hard for my money, and I'll go wherever I can find what I need for cheaper prices. Period.
And now, as far as the person complaining about the welfare gas cards..hate to tell you, but not everyone who collects benefits is on drugs. Many are people who really do need some help. It is not fair to stereotype, when truth is, most people are only one paycheck away from disaster themselves. When my kids were babies, WIC helped me feed them when I couldn't afford the formula. I worked full-time, had a dead-beat husband who I finally threw out, and it was either ask for help or let my children go hungry. The heating assistance program helped me keep the heat on in my house and the telephone program helped me keep a telephone on in case I had an emergency. And I WAS NOT ON DRUGS. I WAS NOT AN ALCOHOLIC. But I did need help. A lot of people who need help are hard working, tax-paying people, and you'd be surprised where some of those people work who still need help. And you, "pissed off," might just be next.
Sorry Matt, I was going to post the Walmart/Lowes info after we talked about it, but I just hadn't gotten around to it. Sometimes the rumors get out of hand and I just wanted to nip that one in the bud. I also try to stop the Target is owned by the French whenever that one comes up too.
I suggest that everyone move the hell to and closer to the cities. At least there the marketplace is wide and one has the opportunity to shop at a variety of stores.
In KC, I do all my fruits and vegetable shopping at the city market downtown --- I'm talking 12 oranges for $1, six apples for $1.50, one massive scoop of fresh spices for $1, cashews for $3 lb, bananas for $2 a bunch, a container of tomatoes for $2.
Not to mention a killer Asian Foods Store, an Italian market (the best damn olive oil variety I've ever seen besides NYC) and a Greek food outlet, too, all of which offer better prices than Wal-Mart/Church.
I had so much fruits and veggies I couldn't carry them all in my hand, and that was for $6.
My point is, the further you live from any port of entry or major distribution center, the more you are going to pay. Places like Wal Mart depend on suburban lifestyles and mentalities, which require an estranged lifestyle, big yard and 1/2 hour commute, all for the sake of avoiding inner and outer city blacks and spics, who have every reason to want to slit your (my) damn throat anyhow; Wal Mart depends on your minivan culture and your soccer-mom bitches and your war against the Brown People; it depends on your school fundraisers with the little kids standing out front looking pathetic and asking for your money (they're not students or athletes; they're salesmen).
If people would just move the fuck out of their bullshit Peyton Place lives and mingle, socialize, maybe places like Wal Mart would collapse.
And to that guy whose wife worked at Wal Mart, my idiot wife did, too. They have a real nice way of giving you a sick day, too, by the way: you don't get your first day off paid --- you get the second day off, which eliminates people "just taking a day off." Nice way to treat an employee.
And they chant before shifts. What kind of soulless, vapid, Mansonesque, God-crushing, dollar-dolts have we become to frequent a place like that?
Son of a bitch, son of a bitch, son of a bitch!
Jeff
I worked at Bass Pro Shop in Texas
they made us do the morning chant every day. The morning chant goes with being in retail.
I also got a paid sick day but not until the second day.
THAT RETAIL!!!!!
I used to throw a fit about rising gas prices, but that's like getting mad at the dog if he throws up on the rug. There's nothing we can really do about it in the short term.
I'm hoping the silver lining on this runup is that it pushes us to alternative fuels that much faster, and the Middle East and Venezuela can choke on their oil when it drops to $20/barrel.
Oil is at least $50/barrel overpriced right now, but there's plenty of blame to go around. On the political side, neither party has done anything to address the situation, always pointing the finger at someone else while getting paid on the side.
On the economic side, the dollar has become so devalued, a price raise was inevitable.
On the Wall Street side, greedy specualators can't stop themselves, unable to realize their short term gain is actually a long term loss.
No matter which angle you look at it, insanity and chaos rule the Oil and gas market. The only way to bring order and sanity back to fuel prices is to completely blow it up and start over i.e. alternative fuels.
Good luck making that happen, I'm not optimistic.
And to the Wal-Mart guy who keeps calling me a snob, Grow up. There's a world out there beyond your keyboard that includes the opposite sex and *gasp* opinions that are different from yours.
Well land a Goshen! Y'all here that? Quit yer job, burn yer trailer 'n load yer truck. We're all movin' to the big city with Jeff, where they's swimmin' pools, movie stars, and lots a fruit stands. And they ain't got no Wal-marts neither. Damn, why didn't I think of that?
well lipshits, i take it you work at bellofram or some other model of exploitation plant in this valley. most companies like that only carry union membership so they can deal with gov't business. those "unions" are bought and paid for.
Jeff, I would like to point out that there are no paid sick days at my Union Plant. And if everyone in the cities are as angry as you, I think I'll stay in the suburbs.
Brian...I'm the one calling you a snob. And I'm not a guy. And it's a whole new message board now. I really don't give a good damn where you buy your water. I'm just yanking your chain a little bit. If you got a little bit of something else yanked now and then, you wouldn't be so cranky and paranoid.
The politicians aren't doing anything about the oil prices going through the roof. But at least we will definitively know whether Roger Clemens was at Jose Conseco's party; I mean, that's really what I want to know.
This is my last comment to "i know where you shop"
Get a life. Name calling anonomously on the Internet is what is done by 14 year olds, regardless of gender. Maybe if you realized that, you wouldn't be stuck at home with your German Shepard and a jar of peanut butter.
I'm done with you, go away.
Brian
This is the main reason that no one moves to Ohio for development. We are still a union state. There are plenty of non-union Right to Work states especially in the south that they can open their factories and businesses in without having to deal with the union BS and they have better weather to deal with. If Ohio is ever going to get out of their rut and want to see renewed economic development, they will have to become a right to work state. Look how bad unions have made the schools and education and let's not talk about the steel companies.
Yes to Baard Energy!!! Lets push for bio-diesel autos.. It will reduce car pollutants by 40%, and take the crunch out of the 65% reliance on foreign oils. Shop American whenever you can.
Wow, I have never went to Walmart and become victim of the "buy/spend more than what I needed" spell that the greeters must have put on a couple of you. I do most of my shopping right there because I like their prices and I like their people. I do my grocery shopping there all of the time. Yea Aldi's has really cheap prices on food if you like eating reconstituted chicken peckers. Bottom line is that Walmart has a great business model and overall product. Don't hate them because they ran the "Mom and Pop" shops away, that was Mom and Pop's fault. To make it in business, you have to think like a business. Business is ever changing and thus Walmart is ever changing and ever growing. Now lets talk about them basterd oil companies if you want to talk about something!
Well now we got an extra hour of daylight earlier than ever before ; thank you George Bush and last years Republican congress. So we can all run out to Wally World and start buying up those Made in China slave labor Spring shorts and tank tops , and don't forget to stock up on plenty of Kingsford charcoal and suntan lotion. As soon as I chisel the ice off my car I'm going to check out the newest line of golf clubs.
Oh , and you gotta love this :
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/83073
Turns out DST doesn't realy save energy ! Wow , who would have ever guessed ! I just can't belive it.
Don't you know Walmart in a foreign country means bend over and look for railing to hold on to? They probably video tape us puckering up our asses as we pull out our wallets.
Pissed off ... You kill me. Being a welfare mom or dad is cool now days where ya been in the last 8-10 years? It pushes off self responsiblity to others it's the new education requirement in Wellsville and Rogers. Sorry couldn't resist. Same thing different issue bend over hold on tight!
Wally m art....Wal Mart's meat sucks. Go to Beresford's and support your local butcher. Or Sparkle Market in East End or Chester. I havent been in Wal Mart in over two years and would not be caught dead there. In my opinion , shopping at Wal Mart is the consumer equivilent of being a corporate slut.
Talking some sense" You're right, I may have painted welfare recipients with too wide a brush. There are SOME people who receive benefits who are just down on their luck, but the MAJORITY of those who get welfare, SSI, food stamps,etc. are lowlife scumbags who have learned to LIVE off the system for generations. And you can say all you want, but most of them are either alcoholics or druggues.
My sister had a dire emergency in her household after 45 years of working every single day, paying into the system, never taking a dime from the government.
What do you think she got from welfare? About $13 a month in food stamps...for two people!
My daughter-in-law (now) and my friend's daughter both took advantage of the WIC program...until they did not need it to provide for their children, then they got off the program.
There are those who have child after child after child just so they can stay on these programs. Don't tell me they don't; I work in a field where I see it every single day.
My other sister recently contemplated a divorce from an abusive husband and checked into what, if, any, assistance she could get to help tide her over (she works a full-time job and has for 30 years).
Guess what? She made $11 too much a month to qualify for ANYTHING, yet she doesn't make enough to provide for herself and her child on her own.
Don'ttell me about the welfare system. It sucks and it's unfair to those who REALLY need it; it's made for those who never want to work or take responsibility for themselves.
[Quote:it's the new education requirement in Wellsville and Rogers."
I resent that; I am from Rogers.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAWWWWWWWW!
Come on over, baby! Come to KC, where the cost of livin' is affordable, they's plenty o' jobs, lots of people, lots goin' on, where the casino revenue has eliminated state tax on gasoline (we gots the cheapest in the nation, at an average $2.98 gallon), smokes are cheap, the winter's are mild (it's 50 degrees right now at 8 a.m.), there ain't no damn state liquor store requirement bullshit (you can buy turkey with your toothpaste), the BBQ is beyond Kraft, the downtown is smoking with activity, and there's city market where you can shop cheap, cheap, cheap. Oh, and there's also Hyvee Supermarket, an employee-owned chain here in the midwest that, unlike some chains I know, actually give you a sick day and present all employees regular profit sharing checks.
YEEEEEEEEE-HAAAWWWWWWWWW!
Jeff M. -- while I took great joy in reading your posts, and agreed with most of the first one, you took a bad turn. You have to remember that some of the people who CHOOSE to live in the 'Ville and surrounding areas don't have easy access to big cities, unless they want to drive 45 minutes and pay $3.29 a gallon to get there. Where's the cost-effectiveness in that? I do live in a big city and love the fact that I can drive 5 minutes to a Target and shop there rather than a WalMart, and love the fact that I can go to a beef retailer down the street and pay $19.99 for a "deli pack" which includes 3 lbs. of hot dogs, 2 packs of buns to go with them, a lb. of roast beef for sandwiches, as well as buns, 3 lbs. of burgers, and 2 lbs. of any cheese I want. My point is (and agreeing with you), living in a big city does get you great buys. But you make it sound like, if people don't live near or in a big city, they're idiots. That, I don't agree with. And by the way, KC is in the heartland, and very land-locked, so I have to believe you're paying much more than you should for many items that you probably buy on a weekly basis, just because you ARE land-locked! Is KC near a major port or harbor? Ummm, no. Think about that before putting down those who don't live in the big city. Think about the location of your big city. You can give another "YEEEHAW" if you want, but that just tells me you really have nothing else to say. At least 'Villians are less than 2 hours below the Great Lakes and just an hour flight from the East Coast. How much fuel does it take (and cost) to fly from the West or East Coast to KC? Just curious.
How to start with more and wind up with less:
I recall seeing one price actually go up at Wal-Mart. It's soy milk. Five years ago it was about $1.79 a half gallon. I would load up on five or six of them every trip. I love soy milk; plus it was cool that I was getting something that took a lot less energy investment than milk which was WHY it was much cheaper, so I thought.
Then one day I went to get my soy and it was almost three bucks!
how does a vegetable product - something that you have to feed ten times the amount of to the animal to produce the end product suddenly become more expensive than that product itself? (A Gallon of soy milk now costs $5.28 and GREAT VALUE brand is roughly $4.88).
This has me worried about bio-diesel. I hope they keep soy out of the whole bio-diesel thing. It already costs more than milk OR gas. Maybe that's it; maybe the price of petroleum products is the reason for the high cost of soy (although it still doesn't explain why milk is cheaper).
to grow crops for ethanol (or any other consumable) Agri-Businesses use petroleum-based fertilizer. Whenever I think about creating ethanol, I imagine these huge fields of grain being irrigated with gasoline. Talk about diminishing returns!
How to start with less and wind up with more:
Not long ago walmart was discovered taking out huge life insurance policies on its elderly workers. I think they quit after they got caught. Pretty clever idea though! They know how to make the concept of diminishing returns work for them.
There's a lesson in here somewhere, I think. Maybe we could eventually make our biodiesel from plants like grapevines, poison ivy and Kudzu: plants we hate that grow like weeds.
Those weeds could be our life-insurance payout in a barrel!
To wondering,
Ultimately, I had little choice in moving here to KC for reasons I'd rather not get into. But now that I am here, I see how living within a stone's throw of a major metro area is advantageous to everyone.
By having a multitude of shopping choices, you are supporting the essence of capitalism, which is a marketplace within which many --- not one --- companies compete for your dollars.
Living in the burbs or in the bosom of the countryside is all well and fine, but prepare to pay the price: that is, bowing down to one or two stores who you inevitably must patron.
In the good old days, wasn't the point of living in the country to be 90 percent self-sufficient? The way our society works now --- people want the old lifestyle to mesh the modern lifestyle, and that is just not practical.
To answer your question, KC is indeed landlocked, but it's the focal center for about 600 miles in all directions.
In other words, this is the manufacturing and transfer area for products that not only need to stay here for our local use, but for products transported from the west to the east.
If you look on Forbes or whatever, you'll see that 6 of the Top 10 major companies --- Hallmark, Sprint, Garmin International, Harley Davidson --- are based here.
And also, the Missouri River works much the same way Ohio River does --- that is, it serves as a shipping lane. That and rail and highway, both of which are utilized to the furthest extent.
And for fuel to get to the Left Coast or Evil Coast, shit I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Air costs? You can fly to Calif. for about $220 round trip, Tucson for about $140 or, God help us all, Cleveland for, I believe, your soul and sanity.
And don't think I'm putting Ohio down anymore than I really am --- I grew up there, lived there, etc. I have a right to insult it if I want to. The state is dark, depressing and perpetually clothed in a hellish gloom more horrible than that of any Christian reckoning.
Hoofstep, where have you been? Haven't seen a post from you on the ORL in a coon's age!
Always enjoyed reading your stuff. We met once briefly.
I thought Harley Davidson was in Milwaukee...KC is just for Sportsters, I think.
Anyway, Jeff, you are right about Ohio; go just about anywhere else in the nation and it's booming compared to here.
I also grew up here and will probably die here but that doesn't mean it's Nirvana; in fact, it's just the opposite, whatever that might be....dare I say it? Hell on Earth?
Before you all get on here and say why the hell don't I leave, it's due to commitments I can't ignore here in the Buckeye state, sad to say.
Hey buckeye, why not leave, it's sad to stay and be miserable all your life.
Hell on Earth? Man, Buckeye, you need to get out more. I've seen most of the U.S. and Canada, and our area isn't even close to the worst. In fact, I like it better than most places I've been.
These things are subjective, of course, but I think how we feel about an area is less about where we are physically as much as our circumstances.
I appreciate the fact that Jeff M. likes his new town, but don't let him fool you. He moved to Kansas City because he had to, and he's trying to make the best of it. If it really were a boom town with so many good jobs, he'd have one. So regardless of what Jeff says, people aren't flocking to KC or the Midwest.
As for a free man purposely living in a place he considers "Hell on Earth"--I can't even begin to fathom that. Why would you condemn yourself to Hell?
All right, Stewart, you little weasel. I hope my last post didn't sound as though I moved to KC because I suddenly felt inspired or motivated to do so; in fact, I think I made it quite clear from the outset that I moved here not by choice.
But sometimes our idiotic selves are forced into doing what inevitably is best for us — at which point we begin playing the stuffy shirt toward everyone we left behind (which, I admit, I have).
And you're correct when you said, to paraphrase, if there were so many great jobs in KC, "he'd have one by now." Perhaps I should have written: it's nice to have choices, or opportunities to apply to many jobs, which, truth be told, I have done so this past week.
And yes, how a place or environment is received by a person is dependent upon that person's state of mind; but there are also other factors, i.e. weather patterns and such, that play a part.
Here's a fact for you: In NE Ohio last year, there were approximately 201 days of overcast conditions, based on information found on the Weather Underground website.
Believe me, the be-all, end-all factor in providing a good, sound physiological starting point begins with fucking sunshine, of which NE Ohio sorely lacks.
And people are moving to the KC metro area, thank you much. Another fact for you. In 2005, the population of the greater KC metro area was 1.7 million.
By June this year, it will be over 2 million.
In the end, as much as I dislike my native state, I realize it's the people you leave behind who make it tolerable and, at times, miraculous.
Hell, you weasel, I even miss you. Give me a ring.
I was being a bit facetious by saying Ohio is Hell on Earth; it does have its good points but I was serious when I said it seems every other area in the country is progressing while Ohio just seems to get worse.
I wish that weren't true but it is.
I do not "condemn" myself to staying here; I stay here due to work and family commitments I don't want to give up, even though places south seem so much more inviting (maybe it's just the weather that has me so down in the dumps).
I just know it's hard to return to our depressed area when I come back from New York or even just Columbus...where there are new buildings going up, people walking the sidewalks, activities going on.
And here we can't even get a Lowe's or a new school for our kids.
So I get it, you leave for the big City and become a drone, a number, some totum-pole climber. Man, I wish I could leave and go where nobody knows my name.
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