A Long Time

So I haven't shopped at Wal-Mart yet. BUT I did enter one. It was traumatizing.

I was meeting my mother so that she could give me my graduation present, and she had to run in to "get a few things" and insisted that I go with her. I told her that it was like dragging a recently clean druggie out of rehab and back into a crack-den. She thought that this was hilarious. I just wanted to inhale all of the dirt cheap merchandise.

But I'm glad I went in. It only reaffirmed how very wrong I think Wal-Mart really is.
"I've got my shampoo, now I need some cleaning products. Oh, and here is a lovely display of cookies. I'll get those too. And dog food. And I also want to look at the DVDs..." And all at ridiculously low prices so that you KNOW that a five year old in an underdeveloped country (or China) made it especially for you.

So that is my story.

I also got into Grad School; I'm going to Rutgers University! Hooray!

Love,
Clellan

Trip to Greenville

Just returned from a trip to Greenville, SC, where I spent a really fun and refreshing two days. Saw old friends and teachers, it was fantastic. Had some discussions about this resolution. Apparently it is not a hard one to keep, and that is what I am finding to be true as well. We discussed how, in times of economic crisis, people can tend to pay more sometimes for local products to support the local community that might be suffering. We're in a recession, and I'll be damned if I give my money to Wal-Mart when the local Vegetable Bin employs local cashiers and managers AND also buys from local farmers.

A friend suggested a project for this blog. I'm going to shop like I normally do at a regional grocery store, then I'm going to go to Wal-Mart and do a pricing (and figure tax) to see if it is making a huge financial difference in my life. When the Farmer's Market comes back in warmer weather, I am going to do the project again on a larger scale. I'm going to take a week and make purchases as usual, writing down anything that could also be purchased at Wal-Mart, such as any groceries, clothing, furniture, personal hygiene, car product, etc, the list is scary. I'm then going to go to Wal-Mart and record all of the prices, again taking tax into consideration, and see how much the change is affecting my finances.

Hope you look forward to it! Part One, the just groceries part, should be done, if not posted, by next weekend.

No one is following that yet, but hopefully it doesn't mean that people aren't reading. I'm of a positive attitude.

Love,
Clellan

School and Coffee

They go together. So I've also been trying to shop at the local coffee shops as well. So far no Starbucks. Although I am drinking the coffee from the school's library coffee shop. I guess thats not as good as a place like the real local place, which is fair trade and all, but still better.

And still no Wal-Mart.

Love,
Clellan