Going back 7 or 10 years ago Walmart came to the Valley. Now we don’t live in the Valley, and being islanders don’t pay much attention on the protests and anger which were or were not present at the invasion back then, but I assume there must have been some. Nevertheless we were younger and more ignorant and it was a different administration, so we went to take advantage of the cheap prices that only poor people like us are attracted too.
The very first time we went there we noted the tiny isles. Almost too small to trundle our laden kart down and certainly not wide enough for two 400 lb shoppers–which there always seem to be a lot of–to pass side by side. That was strike one, but we went back, drawn by the mega boxes of laundry detergent which even though we bought two at a time never seemed to last long enough. Then, between fighting our way past the hordes of homeless, crack whores, meth tweekers, and the Walmart Greeter–who always managed to stand in my direct path so we collide–and the surliness of the checkout gals and their retarded policies on checks, credit cards or any form of payment for which you must present a three generation life history, we began to get very sick of the place.
The parking lot is always too full so a "quick" trip is never an option. And that is all I do–"quick trips". I don’t have time in 8 hours of shopping to make a stop longer than 30 minutes for one item. It doesn’t work with an islander’s schedule. So, as I got more pissed off I shopped there less and less until 4 years ago I stopped altogether and forbade wife and daughters to ever darken their doorstep.
Imagine my justification as I read and heard about Walmart’s insurance policies, and keeping employees at part-time to deprive them of benefits. And then there came the Valley revolt over churning up perfectly good farmland to build an even bigger, better, super-Walmart which would destroy countless businesses and attract more crack whores and meth tweekers and more homeless, drunk, or listless migrants–a problem which I don’t think was ever as much a problem for the Valley until Walmart drew them from societies underbelly like a leech draws blood. So far the Valley has resisted the new invasion, but one of the poorest parts of LA doesn’t seem like it will be able to, and that is a shame.
For the last 13 years, creative farmers have been organically farming a plot of ground in the heart of LA and now the Mayor is willing to allow Walmart to evict them and build. How stupid is that? No one wants a Walmart there, but once it is in, they will almost be forced, by economic necessity, to shop there. What a waste of a good, community building, self-producing effort. Exactly the sort of thing LA needs, but that Government and Big Business hates.
I’ve only just learned about this and if I were closer I would do more–I’ve already sent a letter to LA’s Mayor–unfortunately I restrained myself from telling him what a Fuckup I think he is if he allows this to happen. I hope the citizens and farmers who benefit from this farming venture and who have the most to loose if Walmart is allowed to build, will revolt. And perhaps a few Celeb Chefs and Celeb Farming Gurus can get into the fight and stop this insanity. If this sort of thing is allowed to happen now, what chance is there of ever stopping it?
If anyone in LA has an update or news please contact me.
