Walmart June 11

I had occasion to talk about this visit with my granddaughter and friends today. 
I still remember the look in her eyes.
She's a big girl now.
The adults were talking about how good it would be to know about what kind of support particular corporations give to particular causes. That would let us decide whether to shop in Walmart or choose Target, Home Depot or Lowes.  We don't want to support big box stores, but most of us guiltily do. Anyway, I do. I would like to live off the grid and not be tempted by klik bait and really strip down. At 80, I don't have the discipline. Who am I kidding. When did I?
Anyway let me be clear that I think we really need to address our real needs and think about and do something about moving toward sensible economics and real equality. 
We need to look at money as a tool to allow everyone to have what they need to exist, not as something to count, hoard and acquire the very most and the very easiest life we can possibly have until there is no more. No wild places, no regular people, no planet. We need to learn to resist and address the forces that make us want it all.


A trip to the store 2013

I went to Walmart with my granddaughter to buy underpants
She will be three next month
And needs underpants instead of pull ups instead of diapers
At Carters outlet they were 3 for 15 dollars
Too much to pay
At Walmart they were 6 for 5.84
This is probably the first poem
That quotes the price of underpants at Walmart
You should have seen her eyes
When she saw the multitude of shiny things
Barrettes with sparkles, plastic ribbons,
And a pink umbrella with a cat in a plastic heart as a handle
There were birthday cards that sang Walt Disney princess songs
With paper ballerinas literally twirling
What won’t they think of next
She chose some headbands with paste diamonds
As she touched the other thinks that sparkled
She repeated we don’t buy this, we don’t buy this.
A mantra to soothe the ache of desire
It’s magic isn’t it?
Who wouldn’t want it all?
Who of us is able to resist?