I'm glad to hear it worked out for you, kat!

After the Wal-Mart vs. Union fiasco in Wenatchee a few years back, a bunch of us sat down at work and had a "thinking outside the litterbox" session and brainstormed ways to totally avoid Wal-Mart. (The WM they have put in my town now has the service station and grocery-thingie going on, and the parking lot is twice the size of the store and always full. I don't know what it looks like inside, but I've had nightmares before...*bg*)

Anyway, you'd be surprised how many people don't like WM, but think it an evil necessity. TALK TO THEM!! F'rinstance If you happen to get your car serviced at WM, check and see if you have a community college or tech school in your area with an automotive department. Those guys will work for WM prices, the work is supervised, and you are putting money back into the community, not into Wal-Mart. And if you tell them WHY you are coming to them instead, you might get an ever greater price break. And if they can't do it personally, I'll bet they know someone who can.

The biggest thing that bothers me, personally, is the "Wal-Mart Good Works" commercials that we get around here (I don't know about elsewhere). Why rely on Wal-Mart to do your good works, with YOUR money. Do your own good works.