"Unforgiving" Wal-Mart

I must admit to the reader first, that I don't hate Wal-Mart and what it as a company stands for... I just have a strong dislike for the shopping experience it has become.

Walking into the local Wal-Mart here is like walking into a warzone (i'm assuming, sadly since I've never seen combat). Mangled bodies known as children lie about like stray cats in every aisleway and atop store displays. Where do they come from? (It must be a sight during non-business hours to see the store with so much promise and elegance in its' cleanliest state.) Where are their parents; their seemingly "all-knowing" and loving guardians? Do they even care about the welfare of their unkept and disrespectful little cherubs?

I can't even begin to answer that question. But what I can assume is that every reader knows of what I speak or has had the same experience at least once before.
(What is up with the little "angels" with silver teeth and parents who are force-feeding them candies and boxes of fruit punch?)

It is then that my overall observation of my Wal-Mart visit is that stepping foot inside of these MegaShoppingExtraviganzas is like stepping into a physical statistic and portrait of what American society has become. It has transformed into a wasteland of individuals (the shoppers) who just don't care about the most significant and grave standards of what it means to be sociably sound... Respectful of their surroundings and other individuals. And the facility which enables this harassy to continue could easily be a shoe-in for our government. The management could be found guilty of advancing this aggravation.

What would Sam Walton think of his store today?

PJ

Mexican Food and Ex-Girlfriends

What is it about Mexican Food and all it encompasses that brings out sorrowful or fond remembrances of our past partners?  Why do we feel compelled to share our pains and accomplishments over chips, salsa, and Tortilla Soup?  Could it be in the food, the ambiance, the slothfulness of the event?

I could only gather that eating Mexican is a social event.  One that we are comfortable with physically and emotionally.  There is nothing uptight or sacred when you happen to be scarfing your face down with a messy beef taco and enchilada.  Nothing hands off... so the logical topic of conversation generally tends to lead to that which we humanistically think about more often than we would like to realize... boys, girls, sex, and drinking.  (You know... the good stuff!)

I won't get into what was shared... but what I can tell you (the reader) is that I learned that Asian men aren't the most compatible of lovers because of their traditional outlook on women (?... made sense), Asian women are absolutely fabulous in bed (?... made sense), one of our party members only dates "non-asians" (?... made sense again), another of our party has a 20 ft. photo of his supermodel ex-girlfriend wearing a pair of hotpants in the local mall (?... made sense),  and pissed off crazy ladies are awesome in bed while their male counterparts aren't (?... totally made sense)... did I leave anything out?

Oh yes, the beans and rice were amazing.

PJ

Today's Thought

Nick touched on a very interesting note when he sent up the "Good Read" e-mail this morning. http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/05/men_with_guns.html

After reading, it struck a chord with me and my beliefs on how our future is going to be written and by whom. I wrote an e-mail right after reading the article and it is below.

"We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf." (George Orwell)

This is what our society has become. We fail to grasp the fact that there are people out there who are propelled to do us harm... it becomes a case of "guilty by association", being American citizens. Even though at our core, family, education, and the welfare/future of both of these are our beliefs, the way we are portrayed on the global scene is anything but... so we have to stand by those who can protect us... not on the streets, but in our minds (a piece of mind).

PJ

And upon completion of my e-mail and thinking about it... I spoke briefly to Charlie about it and came to the conclusion that:

Since the earliest of civilizations, history has been written (and will continue to be) by those with guns, bayonnettes, spears, and swords. We as a modern civilization have become soft. A world full of political correctness, money, and egocentricness. And those worries have detoured us from building a future that is brighter and worthy of those who have come before us. No one will remember those who continue to turn our world upside down day after day. Do we honestly remember the Enron guy's name?, or who's going to remember George Bush in 100 years? No one. These people will be lost to time. But those who fight and struggle everyday... those who are warriors of passion and change, will be remembered for all eternity. The greatest minds... unless they are fighters for freedom will be lost as well.
So what does that mean? We have to provide for our current guardians the education, the arts, and the piece of mind so that he/she can carry on our legacy and build a brighter future.