I crossed the supermarket picket lines tonight to get some groceries. I feel a little strange having to walk by the picketers, but not strange enough to stop me. I’ve shopped at TJ’s, and the nearby organic granola market, more often in the past few months that I would have otherwise, and I now tend to buy more groceries less often. But otherwise it hasn’t radically altered my shopping habits. I do feel bad for the workers – but mainly because I understand if they decide to break the picket and go to work instead of standing around intimidating shoppers, they run the risk of physical retribution from the other unionists – not that they had a choice to join the union in the first place. Yeah, I’m not a big fan of unions.
I know there are all sorts of issues here, beyond health care copayments and top CEO salaries. But it seems to me that the big villian here is escaping unscathed. The picketers should be setting up shop in front of the local Wal-Mart; a new one is going in at the moment, just down the street from my usual supermarket. They’re non-union, which doesn’t really bother me all that much, but it means that they can pay their employees whatever low, low wages they can get away with – plenty of unemployed folx waiting to take their crappy jobs. To compete with the “always low prices” supermarkets have to start cutting their costs, but the high fixed cost of union labor has them up against a wall (-mart).
Of course that isn’t what really bothers me about Wal-Mart. More so than the mediocre products they sell, their abuse of employees and vendors, their neglect of local communities or outright hostility to local businesses – what really troubles me is the homoginization of America (not to mention the rest of the world!) Others who deserve the blame for this – McDonalds, Starbucks, Home Depot, Blockbuster. Everyplace is starting to look the same – the personalities of neighborhoods are vanishing, to be replaced by a generally mundane and flavorless average.
Not that all franchises are bad. Back when I used to eat donuts, I thought Krispy Kremes were pretty tasty. I eat at Outback now and then, they make a decent seared prime rib (notwithstanding the cheezy decor and goofy-dumb radio ads). In n Out, Rubio’s, Nordstroms, the Apple Store, Pollo Loco – seems as if they all offer better-than-average products – indeed, most have higher-than-average prices. It doesn’t bother me to patronize these places – even instead of local alternatives. I guess mainly it bothers me when marketing of cheap junk takes over. (You knew I’d bring Micosoft in here somehow, right?)