Wal-Mart Under Attack...And Deservedly So!

On Tuesday November 8, 2005, a small cargo plane crashed into a Wal-Mart store in Manchester, New Hampshire.

This got me thinking a bit. While one would reasonably assume that this was a complete accident, perhaps pilot error, or adverse weather conditions, there is a part of me that isn't so sure. In fact, I'm going to be the first to go out on a limb and suggest that the pilot intentionally flew the plane into the Wal-Mart store!

For me, the only real question is motive. Who would kamikaze a New Hampshire Wal-Mart?

So, I did some research. It appears that the question isn't so much "who has a grudge against Wal-Mart" as "which one of the various persons who have been harmed by Wal-Mart decided to finally crash a jet into the retail behemoth?"

Here is a list of potential kamikaze pilots, in no particular order.

1. A woman who was recently turned away from a Wal-Mart store because a self-righteous Wal-Mart pharmacist refused to fill her prescription for birth control.

2. A qualified disabled person who has been unfairly deemed unemployable by Wal-Mart executives on the basis that his disability may result in increased health care costs for the company.

3. An immigrant worker hired by the Wal-Mart cleaning department, who was housed in crowded conditions and sometimes forced to sleep in the back of Wal-Mart stores.

4. The director of an Anti Wal-Mart Film entitled "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" which will debut on November 15, 2005.

5. A resident of Booneville, MO. who objects to the building of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in her small town.

I'm sure that the above list is not exhaustive as I have no doubt that the number of people negatively affected by Wal-Mart increases every minute. For example, my list does not even include the thousands of small business owners who have been put out of business by the one-stop retail giant Wal-Mart.

We should all lend our support to this fight. I'm not saying we need to fly planes into Wal-Mart stores, but how about some other reasonable alternatives. Like.....signing Planned Parenthood's petition to put a stop to Wal-Mart's refusal to prescribe birth control, supporting unions and other labor organizers in their fight on behalf of exploited workers, supporting legal aid societies that specialize in representing disabled workers who have been discriminated against in hiring, petitioning your representative regarding the inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants.....just to name a few.

Or, better yet, develop and circulate bumper stickers that read "Friends Don't let Friends Shop at Wal-Mart"

What greater sign do we need that Wal-Mart is engaged in unfair practices than objects falling from the sky???