Shopping Karma

Our church is very socially / environmentally conscious. This Sunday I overheard two women talking about shopping, and one apologizing for shopping at Wal-Mart several years ago, saying she no longer shops there. The other then said that Costco is now on the list of places we should boycott for their unethical building practices in Mexico.

I am not giving up either Costco (today is Executive Member Appreciation Day, and they are giving away free pies! As long as they aren't cherry or rhubarb ...) or Wal-Mart (we have a family connection, as one of my cousins is the manager of a Super-Wal-Mart in TX). Now I have heard that Whole Foods has been accused of unethical business practices and attempted monopolizing in its attempts to take over / run over Wild Oats, including running an anonymous blog which bad-mouths Wild Oats. I know alot of "socially / environmentally conscious" neighbors who swear by Whole Foods, and I wonder what they will think of this develpment. Or if they will write it off as business-world wrangling, since it doesn't seem to harm the proletariat and local communities. But in my very limited experience bad business practices are bad business for everyone -- a bad corporate mentality seeps through an entire power structure. I don't shop at Whole Foods because they are geographically inconvenient.

Mostly my boycotting is limited to company's who financially support causes with which I disagree, and personal experiences. I have never eaten at a Carl's Jr. because back in the 80's I found out they were giving money to white supremacy groups. And the one time I ate there (at age three) I barfed. I avoided using AT&T for a decade because they slammed me once. And never apologized. I am still mad that my phone company sold out to AT&T.

So my shopping is informed, yet oddly unaffected. As long as I never find out anything bad about Trader Joe's everything will be shiny.