"Cindy Hamilton" > wrote in message
.. .
>> Makes you wonder why anyone will work there
>
> Lack of other opportunities. No skills, manufacturing jobs offshored.

I was saddened to hear yesterday that one of my former coworkers and friends
just went to work for Walmart. He is slightly younger than me but somewhere
around the age of 50. He is Latino and does speak English although he
doesn't come across particularly well. For instance, he would say things
like, "He bees doing it wrong!" And he used a lot of slang in his speech.
You could always understand what he meant but in listening to him, he came
across as uneducated. Add into that, he is a very flamboyant person and
small in stature. Yes, he is *** and very obviously so. Great friend and
wonderful person to be around but... Does not exactly present the most
professional manner for most retail type jobs. And I think retail is the
only thing he has ever done. He was in management. Not sure what job he
got at Walmart or which one he is working for.

He is my friend on Facebook but I haven't had much contact with him since I
got married and subsequently moved out of the area. I do know that he had
moved back to CA for a while to look for work. But he didn't find any so
came back here.

I am not going to totally knock Walmart. My dad used to tell me that they
were a good thing because they moved into rural areas where there otherwise
would be no jobs. But... I also don't think they pay a living wage. I
have another former coworker and friend who used to work for Walmart and she
said overall, they treated their employees better than K Mart did. K Mart
was a great place to work for when I first started working there but perhaps
I only thought that because I was 19 and didn't know any better. At that
age I didn't want for anything more than to get by week to week. Needed
enough money for food and rent and hopefully maybe an extra $20 a month or
so for savings. Oh how times change! But they did used to have a very good
benefits package and gave raises quickly. It's not that way now. Or so
I've been told.

Am even more worried about another friend who is a couple of years older
than me. He got laid off perhaps a year or two ago and I don't think has
found a job since. Heard that his mom just died and when I got married and
left here, he was living with his mom. Not sure where he is currently
living. But it can be very rough once you hit 50 and have to find a new
job. Particularly if you didn't finish college. He was in law school but
then his dad (a judge) died and he took it very hard and couldn't bring
himself to finish school.