Stealing

I was in Wally World today, because sadly it is the only store in my town or anywhere near it for that matter, picking up some last minute things for school. And what should I overhear in the checkout line, but one cashier complaining to another about the new "black bags" (ie WalMart's rendition of a green reusable shopping bag.) The cashier was complaining that its going to make shop lifting easier so they should get rid of them. And those of you who know me best should be happy because I bit my tongue.

But I was thinking two things:

First, in Australia we were allowed if not encouraged to not only walk into stores with our green bags, but also our backpacks. In fact, the cashiers just quickly looked in the bags to make sure that we weren't stealing. Gee, isn't that a simple solution to the problem, look in the bag. Or look at the receipt. Sheer genius, I tell you. The same thing was true of most, if not ever, other country I've traveled in including: Israel, Russia, Germany, Austria, Italy, and the Czech. All countries who trump America when it comes to awareness and action when it comes to ecological issues.

Second, (and this was my huge issue) why should WalMart be concerned with stealing when for all intents and purposes WalMart steals from people every day 24/7 through globalization and the true cost of cheap prices. They steal from the people who make their products, paying them less so that they can charge you less. They steal from the enviorment - using shipping and production methods that are wasteful. Really that Smiley Face logo represents very few people who deal with or work for WalMart. 

Picture from 

esmashsite.com/shop/walmart.html