Hate to Love Walmart

Okay love is perhaps too strong of an emotional attachment, but we are embarassed to admit that ever since we became truck drivers we have done nothing but frequent Walmart stores. With great humiliation, there is reasoning behind it. When we were living upstate we avoided Walmart and all corporate chain stores for that matter. We ate locally, shopped at our food co-op and tried to support local farmers and mom&pop businesses. When our home became a 6'x6' box on 18 wheels, we couldn't necessarily stop and look for farmers' markets. Any driver can tell you, the only place that allows trucks is Walmart, the largest largest company in the world (pretty scary, huh?). And because they're so plentiful with enormous parking lots, there's always one nearby we can easily maneuver in and out of. Living off the road, we try not to eat too much at truck stops (unless it's good home cooking from a mom&pops truck stop) and are therefore stuck with grocery shopping at Walmart, whose organic section is all of two feet wide. With the current world economy, the largest employer in the states is the only business recording profits. We drop off loads to this #1 Fortune 500 company a couple times a month. They import and move almost all of our goods, most of which outsources the manufacturing jobs we desperately need just to keep 'every day low prices'. Unfortunately this company is the backbone of trucking, and we can't wait to never step into another store once we stop driving. Their greeters aren't the cheeriest when they see us. If you're unfamiliar with some of the controversy over their workers' rights, political influence, and business ethics have a read here.