I was parked about 100 yards from the big new Walmart Super Store while (speaking of greedy little fists) I stopped into the Verizon store to check out the rebate offer on my "old" (2 years) I-Phone if I got the new I-Phone 6. (Decent offer, but I can't get a new phone until December when my current contract runs out with Verizon, or pay a huge penalty, and don't worry, he said, the "6" is on back order anyway and you wouldn't get it until November…. Sheesh.)
So, when I left Verizon, shopping list in hand, I realized I could get all the items I needed right over there at that new Walmart. Plus, I'd see if it had the ugly, crowded, poorly lit decor of the others I'd ever been to, or whether it was an upscale version that actually felt welcoming and attractive while it exploited its employees and foisted cheap merchandize manufactured by children in Third World countries into the waiting plastic shopping bags of True-Blue Americans.
I needed to buy a pillbox, one of the twice a day 7-day plastic things that had trays large enough to hold all the supplements my Grain Brain book said I should be taking to ensure health and happiness well into the next decades of my life. I am a terrible pill-taker. Hub, the doctor, calls me "non-compliant." I just hate taking pills and I always forget completely or I take them and then forget if I did or I didn't so I don't in fear of overdosing, which means I skip lots of doses…it's an ongoing struggle. So I thought I needed this container. Also I wanted a funny birthday card for Son-One, and a can of "lady" shave cream.
It was this last that gave me pause. I realize the pink-topped "lady shave" is likely the exact same shaving cream in the black containers sold to men. But I just feel more feminine using the shaving cream from a pink can, which is a new-ish thing for me and one that I'm sort of exploring with bemusement.
I sometimes think I just don't know how to be a girl. I don't know "girl stuff". I mostly just used bath soap for most of my life when I shaved. (Did you catch that? "when I shaved"? I am blessed with fair skin and fairer body hair -- you can barely see it! Why bother, I wondered.) Plus, my feminist ire was raised back in the early 70's which gave me a socio-political reason to feel a sense of relief about being inadequate in the "girl stuff" categories of make up, hair (both body and head), and undergarments. So at the ripe old age of (almost) 64, I realize I am suffering from arrested development of all things "girl".
I still don't do mani-pedis or color my hair or fix it in any ways that require braids or pins or updos.
I missed the entire debate about current trends in pubic hair. I know that Brazilian waxes were all the rage for awhile (leaving one shiny and bare -- like a newborn babe! -- but all I could imagine was the pain of getting there.) Just to check in with the current thinking, just now (with some trepidation) I Googled "pubic hair styles" and found dozens of websites that were NOT pornographic, but highly educational. Here's one: http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/style/470716/Pubic-hair-trends-2014-The-full-waxed-look-is-out-the-bush-is-back Take that to the stylist next time you go in. I have found that my remedial education in catching up with the girly arts has had some surprising results. I LIKE smoothly shaved legs and the thick, aromatic creams I use to get them. I LIKE a really nicely fitted bra, to give "the girls" a boost now that they seem to want to move south. I LIKE a hairdo that is both easy to care for and attractive. I LIKE the Clinique counter at Macy's where I buy the 4 items of make up I wear most days (base, blush, brown shadow and mascara), from kindly women in white lab coats (it's SCIENCE!) I like being a girl, exploring the feminine arts of body care.
I also like earning a living wage, speaking my mind, being treated with respect, having equal access to any and all educational, professional, social, and political avenues open to men. I guess shave cream and feminism don't have to be mutually exclusive.
I just wish the Lady Waltons would put a bit of the old feminine decorative arts to work in their stores. The new one is just as soul deadening as the rest. They might also grab some feminist gusto and insist on providing better pay and working conditions for their employees and look into the labor practices of the countries from which they import their cheap stuff. Just sayin'.
At least, that's the view from here… ©
I do not go in Wal-Marts for the reasons you mentioned but I have wondered what I'd do if I lived out where my brother and his adult kids all live. If they want to go to a big box store, that is their only choice. I think I'd pay a fortune to Amazon to deliver but we are a culture who likes convenience so I'm not so sure I woudn't cave in.
ReplyDeleteLove this blog. I can Identify with you're not knowing how to do the girlie-girls stuff. I get on kicks where I try and buy products but I keep drifting back to my default.
We have a vacation home in Idaho where the nearest "big box" is 40 miles away. Not convenient. So when the new Walmart was built only 3 miles away a few years ago, it became a regular shopping place for us. It's actually a nice, homey store that has everything we need when we are over there. I feel badly about it, but the economy is so depressed there that the joy of people finding jobs at that Walmart practically created a party atmosphere. I do shop there, but feel guilty, then feel happy to supper their local economy….oh, it's all so confusing. :/
ReplyDeleteConfusion is a good word for this dilemma. Where my brother's Wal-Mart was built they drove a 6-8 local stores right out of business in a very small town. It's the same with the people as your Idaho store. They employ so many people that half the residences love Wal-Mart and the other half hate what happened to the downtown area.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind shopping at Walmart while in Arkansas - because, sadly, it's the only store around the town where my sister-in-law lives. But I go out of my way to NOT shop at that store while here (or while there are other options) and still feel guilty about the steering wheel lock I bought there over ten years ago. Sigh. Sometimes geography is what helps to walk (or not walk) the talk.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the Idaho Walmart drove some local business out too. Little mom and pop places cannot compete. We were actually surprised to see the local Ace Hardware had done an expansion on their store and were doing a brisk business. The two grocers in town also seem to be busy. Hard to tell what people will support and what they won't.
ReplyDeleteThe other day I was talking to a checker at Safeway and she said she was thinking about working at the new Wallmart. I said, "Wouldn't that be a step-down in pay?" And she told me that she would make more money at Wallmart than she does at Safeway.
ReplyDeletePS: I admit that I "clicked"
I live close to the new Walmart near Everett Mall, but have not been curious enough to go in. I realize it is a luxury these days to have the option NOT to shop there.
ReplyDeleteAs for shaving cream, I found that hair conditioner is nice and slippery and works quite well instead! However, I am tempted by the girly soaps and scents and and things at Crabtree and Evelyn..
FROM AN EMAIL: Loved your article on Wal-Mart - just gave a few more reasons not to shop there plus I agree with your thought on more equality in pay and other things...
ReplyDelete