It’s 2007 and I’m in Vegas getting ready to board a plane to head back home to Philly after spending a few days visiting my mom.
I have my ticket in one hand and a USNews Magazine in the other.
I board the plane, shuffle through the aisle until I’m finally in my window seat and before the plane even takes off, I start paging through my magazine.
Call me strange, but I’m one of those people who reads magazines backwards. So, I’m fanning through the pages from the back to the front and I land in the middle of the magazine when I see it.
This big bold headline that reads, “Walmart: The Worst Company in America.”
For the next 20 minutes I become completely engrossed in this article.
Page after page I begin reading about Walmart’s bad business practices, like it’s unwillingness to provide healthcare to it’s employees, how it destroys local communities and small businesses, the way it receives subsidies and unfair tax breaks, the multiple ways Walmart hurts the environment, how they don’t pay their employees fairly and…WAIT.
HOLD UP.
The LARGEST class action gender discrimination lawsuit in US history was filed against them because they aren’t paying or promoting women the same way they are promoting men?
Oh, heck no!
I keep reading.
It was in that moment when I finally got it.
It was in that moment when I finally realized, if I cared about women’s rights, the way I claimed to care about women’s rights, I could no longer shop at this retail blood sucking giant.
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking.
Big deal, you’re one person in a sea of millions. What difference will it make if you decide not to shop there? It’s not like Walmart will actually notice or care.
You might be right. They might not notice and they might not care.
But I will.
It’s been at least 10 years since I made the decision to stop shopping at Walmart and even though I know they’ve changed a lot of their practices, I still won’t shop there.
Our purchasing power matters and as long as there are businesses that are doing better, I’ll be spending my money with them.
What about you?
Do you care about ethical business practices?
I sure hope you do, because whether you’re the buyer or the business owner, your influence really does make a difference.