Being in the Minority

According to a Reuters survey released on Yahoo yesterday, 89% of Americans will shop at Wal-Mart this holiday season. Holy cow. With about 300 million people living here, that means around 267,000,000 people will shop at the world's largest retailer before the end of the year in the U.S. alone. Just look at that number. Almost our entire nation will be buying cheap plastic presents imported from China or Mexico at our favorite store.

Most people avoiding the store said it was because they "disliked crowds." Less than 1% cited Wal-Mart's reputation as reason of avoiding the store. It's like America has accepted Wal-Mart's marriage proposal, and everybody is happy about it! (Actually, I wouldn't mind being the divorce lawyer on that case...)

Another interesting note: Wal-Mart (and other stores) have taken a lot of flack for replacing "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays" as their greeting in past seasons. They're back to the usual "Merry" greeting this year, but some other stores aren't following suit. Best Buy has banned the phrase, for example. In the Reuters survey, they found that 53% of those polled were bothered by the shunning of phrases. Give me a break! This is America, people! If you don't like what a store says when you walk in the door, don't shop there. It's that simple.

Sometimes people are too sensitive, and other times they're completely indifferent. Strange creatures.