(...In which I am a grump. ...Hey, you could at least try to look surprised or disbelieving that I could ever be grumpy... Is that so much to ask? ;o))
Irritant of the Day:
People who make a point of mentioning that they never/hardly ever shop at Wal-Mart.
So they choose not to shop at Wal-Mart. That's fine. I don't particularly care where most people shop or don't shop, unless they've shown me something wonderful and I'm interested in buying one, too. It's none of my business, anyway, where they choose to spend their money. That's up to them.
Just as I don't care where Random Person shops, neither do I expect Random Person to care where I shop, but (since I'm on the subject) I do happen to shop at Wal-Mart on a regular basis. Do I love everything about the shopping experience and the company? No. But on the other hand, for me, it's convenient and affordable... and did I mention convenient? (I don't like to make half a dozen stops on every shopping trip just to get all the basics.) Also, I don't really buy into the "Wal-Mart is teh EVIL" stuff, so there are no pesky feelings of guilt.
Anyway...
I guess what irritates me isn't that some people choose not to shop at W-M (see above re: none of my beeswax). It's that most people who feel compelled to mention that they've only been inside a Wal-Mart, like, twice in their whole entire life ("...Um, congratulations...? ...You must be so proud?") seem to do so only to impress their readers. "See? I'm cool. I'm with-it. I get it. On the one hand, I am so totally unique and different and anti-establishment and stuff, because I'm not one of those mindless sheep who shop at (eww) Wal-Mart-- yet on the other hand, I'm part of the In Crowd, because I recognize that Wal-Mart is gross and Evil-- even though most of the time we don't really believe in the outdated concepts of Good and Evil, except when it comes to Evil Corporations (please accept me, please love me, please bolster my self-worth)."
...Or maybe I'm reading too much into all of this, and the anti-Wal-Mart crowd just think we all really want to know where they buy (or don't buy) their bread, milk, and toilet paper...
In any case, I bolster my own feelings of self-worth by simply refusing to bore you all by writing about how I don't really enjoy going to Target, but will if I "have" to-- or how I genuinely loathe going into snooty department stores. No, I choose to bore you instead with grumpy ramblings and posts about little more than the weather or the changing seasons. Yeah, that's more my style. ;o)
