Walton's Mountain of Crap

It's easy for me to boycott WalMart, since the nearest store is about 8 miles out of my way and there are thousands of stores nearer to me that sell the same things at comparable or better prices. I don't like crowds, and I don't like buying things in bulk. So my boycott of WalMart is about as much of a sacrifice as my boycotts of Jaguar and gynecologists.

In the last 15 years, I've made one trip to WalMart where I bought anything. Maybe I saved a few pennies. Upon entering the store, I was berated by an employee for entering through an "exit" (designated as such by means invisible to me). Upon exiting the store, I was asked to hand over my receipt and my shopping bag (as all customers apparently are) to confirm I wasn't shoplifting anything. The appeal of WalMart is a mystery to me.

Nevertheless, I enjoy seeing WalMart getting kicked around, deservedly, for its abusive labor practices and its phoney baloney self-promotion as a good corporate citizens (most recently, as environment-friendly company). And Robert Greenwald, who exposed Faux News in Outfoxed, seems like just the documentarian to kick WalMart. His documentary, WalMart: The High Cost of Low Price, is being screened in numerous locations beginning the week November 13. I plan to attend a local screening if my glamorous lifestyle permits.

Any documentary that gets Harvard Law grad-turned-public access cable filler Mark "Couric Watch" Finklestein's third-world-made underpants in a twist can't be all bad.

In the interest of full disclosure, the distributors of the film (or someone pretending to be them) sent me an e-mail offering a ticket to the D.C. premiere. Given the cost of an airline ticket and the fact the screening was located 3,992 or so miles farther than the closest WalMart, I declined their kind invitation. But they can count on me not to patronize WalMart or any of the Republicans that WalMart supports financially.