A strange encounter of the kilting kind

[jiminak]

I was just doing some shopping at Tesco (for the more far flung among us, that’s a Wal-Mart kind of operation I occasionally use) when, just as I was entering the hallowed portal , this lady accosted me with "You're a Scotsman, you'll know."

Taking me by the arm, she dragged me back outside. There was this charity stall selling bits of this and that. Her friend had hold of a framed print of a Victorian painting. It was a wee doggie sitting among some flowers, trying to look cute.

“Is it ‘Grey Friar’s Bobby’?” she asked.

It wasn’t, and so I said so as nicely as I could.

“Oh, never mind, I’ll have it anyway!”

Bet you anything you like when she gets it home, she’ll be telling her hopefully admiring friends “I know it’s right because there was this Scotsman there, and he said it was.”

Maybe I should have fibbed and made her day. It was the only comment of the day, so far, but I thought I'd share this unexpected moment.

Jim

[Pour1Malt]

guid story...

ainly yin correction needed though...

Tesco is no evil like Walmart is... ya shuidnae sully their name....

[jiminak]

A stand duly corrected , I was just try to say is this damn great big shop thing it takes a hour to find anything in. But You're right: it's no evil.

Jim

[Dirk Skene]

guid story...

ainly yin correction needed though...

Tesco is no evil like Walmart is... ya shuidnae sully their name....

Well ... to a yank like me it did help me to know were he was & what he was doin'. I had no idea what a Tesco was.

[Hamish]

An interesting little experience there Jim. It must have been the week for them because, during the week, I went into Horsham to do a little shopping. It is a town I seldom use because the parking is so limited (but they now have a very efficient 'Park & Ride' system). Anyway, I was wandering through the one and only department store - Beales - when I was accosted by a glamourous young lass working there, who asked what tartan I was wearing. I explained that it was French, from Brittany in fact (the Randonnée Bretonne). She had a very distinctive Scottish accent and expressed huge interest in the kilt, the tartan, my Kollection, etc., etc. When I asked where she was from, she told me that she was from Stornoway and had left there only in September. She came to the south of England to find work "as there is nothing in Stornoway", and is very happy down here. It seems, her family have been involved in the weaving of Harris Tweed for several generations. This was a really interesting interlude for me as I so very seldom am asked about my kilts.

So what makes Wal-Mart different from most of the other large retail conglomerates we all have? They all look pretty similar to me, although some sell somewhat better quality merchandise than others. I use Tesco for vitually all of my groceries, wines and household requirements, but I would never buy clothing (apart from walking socks!!), furniture or electrical goods from them.

As for Wal-Mart, I bought a very nice suitcase at their branch near Palm Springs airport in California. (I needed it to transport the five new kilts I had acquired whilst on holiday there in October)!!

[auld argonian]

At the risk of veering off topic but hoping to fill our foreign friends in on a debate currently taking place in American life, a brief overview of the "case against Walmart" is:

They have a large employee base and are alleged to pay substandard wages and offer little, if anything, in the way of affordable health insurance. Please note the use of the word "alleged".

They tend to run smaller shops - the so-called "mom and pop" operations - ou of business by low-balling prices.

Their stores are called "big box" stores for a reason: that's what they look like. The argument is made that they contribute to urban sprawl and build a set, formula format of store that is considered unattractive and architecturally unredeemable.

A certain percentage of their merchandise is imported from the Far East...this mitigates a claim that they made several years back that they were the "All American" store and promoted "Made in the USA" products.

Those things having been said, they do have adherants who will argue that:

They have low prices on both everday necessities (like toilet tissue) and big-ticket items (like flat screen tv's), thus making the consumer's dollar stretch further.

They're a true "one stop shopping" destination.

They do offer entry level employment to people from a diverse cross section of the population who are just getting into the workplace.

They do contribute to local economies through sales and employment taxes.

They are no more "evil" than any other organization out to make a buck...the essence of capitalism is that markets will find their own level and Walmart is just another development in that set of dynamics.

So, the jury's till out. Recently, there was an ordinance in the Chicago City Council that would have imposed higher levels of wages and insurance contributions for "big box" employees. It should be noted that there are very few Walmart stores within the actual city limits of Chicago...Walmart will, literally, build right across the street from the city limits. The "inner city" is crying out that they need stores like Walmart in their neighborhoods for both the access to goods and the local employment that they offer. The "big box ordinance" was finally voted down after much political wrangling, thus paving the way for Walmart to expand into its "final frontier", the inner city.

Keep an open mind; try to look at it from all sides. There is no simple solution and nothing is truly inherently evil.

Best

AA

[RockyR]

One thing you forgot to mention... since Walmart has no "affordable heath insurance" for their employees and most of their regular strore employees are below the poverty line, they tell their employees (as was atested to by several x walmart managers and employees and current employees) to go on Government supported healthcare... the healthcare for needy families and welfare families. Their rationale is "That's why the government health care is there, so use it". In other words... let the taxpayers pay for your health insurance.

They offer low cost items, but what is the ultimate cost of "Low Cost"?

The jury may be out in some places, but some countries (like Scotland for example) have kept them out (even after trying to change their name and re-open) to save their "mom and pop" based economy.

[macwilkin]

Fellas,

I think we need to be very careful when discussing the pros and cons of Wal-Mart on the forum, lest the thread turn into a "political" one. I have my own personal opinon of Wal-Mart, but it is not appropriate for a kilt forum.

Let's get this thread back on track, please.

Regards,

Todd

[RockyR]

Sorry about that. It's a hot-button issue for many people.

Without sounding like a smart@$$, can we discuss it in the "off topic forum"?

[auld argonian]

Sorry, just trying to explain a recent phenomena in social life here...I enjoy hearing about these sorts of things first hand from forum members in other countries...helps me understand attitudes outside of the US.

...I have seen the line, "...when they start selling kilts at Walmart..." her several times...usually to to refer to some far-off day when kilts will be so mainstream that they'll be on the racks at the "big box" stores but also making a reference to those kilts being mass-produced and implying that they would be of inferior quality to kilts as we know them now.

Just trying to be objective and informative...if it offends, I have no problem with it being moved or deleted by management.

Best

AA