Wal-Mart

I used to shop at Wal-Mart because it was inexpensive, close, convenient, and open all hours of day and night. This was very important when my first daughter was born because it gave me a chance to go out late and get all my shopping done alone. While I was shopping there I was convinced that I was receiving the lowest prices and was content to deal with the hordes of people and insufficient cashier staffing in order to do what I could to save on groceries. Then I moved and Wal-Mart was no longer the most convenient source of shopping and I was forced to compare shop in order to determine if the low prices were worth the extra commute. I found that the prices were not all that different from other grocery stores, and even if I had to shop at several stores in order to find what was provided all within the one Wal-Mart my shopping experiences improved dramatically at the other retail stores in which I attended. All at once I became cured of the Wal-Mart stigma and have since never found a reason to go back. Since starting this project and learning more about the corporate runnings of the company, I do not think that the prices could ever be low enough to lure me back into the store. As a business student I find the business practices of this company extremely abhorrent. I think that the relationship between the corporate management and the low level employees was doomed since the very beginning since the founder Sam Walton took advantage of a small business exemption in order to under pay his employees and embrace his inner greed pocketing or using the extra money to grow the company. How could we expect that the corporate culture would change from his original view, if he could get away with it and build the company so exponentially than why would the corporate big wigs after he was gone. Mistreating employees, under paying them and providing a negative work environment is a despicable way to run a business. Barbara Ehrenreich states in her book Nickel and Dimed that while she was employed at Wal-Mart the company believes in the philosophy of “believe in the Individual’…because vast as Wal-Mart is, and tiny as we may be as individuals, everything depends on us.” This philosophy although terribly misrepresented by Wal-Mart is undeniably correct. Without the mass amounts of people employed by Wal-Mart the company would not have the resources to continue to run such a successful business. That is why it is so disgraceful that Wal-Mart feels so entitled in its greediness to treat its most important asset so badly. It really upsets me that the company is able to get away with such mistreatment, that such pure greediness can affect so many families across the country so completely. This is a prime example of how the 1% of the rich can so ultimately have such a negative impact on the other 99% of the country working to do all they can to keep getting richer while working equally as hard to keep the poor down and make it impossible for the lower income families to ever have a chance at a life in which hard work will ever equal success and financial stability within the United States. I will never again support the corporate greedy bastards benefiting from Wal-Mart in any way that I have control over. There is no price low enough or reason good enough to lure me back in to that store and my money back into their pockets.

The American Dream

I think that the argument of whether the American dream exists or not is dependent on the person. Everyone has a different idea of what the American dream should be and has different experiences to back up their beliefs on whether or not it still exists. As children we all have dreams of how we want our life to turn out. Some Americans struggle immensely just trying to make ends meet, some are plagued with bad fortune that prevents us from reaching those goals or at least making our dreams harder to reach for. On the other hand, there are other Americans who can rise out of misfortune and accomplish the seemingly impossible, making their dreams come true. And of course we cannot forget those Americans who seem to have it all and reach their dreams with virtually no effort at all. The point is that no one individual has the same dream or the same experiences that either propel us toward reaching our dreams or hold us back from them. The idea within us is either fueled or deterred by these experiences, if one person has many negative experiences and hurdles holding him or her back from that dream than when asked that person would probably be less likely to believe in the achievable American dream and vice versa. As for immigrants I think that the American dream is very alive and I think that the mass amounts of people wanting to immigrate to this country is proof of that. For some I think that just being able to come to a country where they are free is a dream. Think about the countries where a citizen has no free speech, or is not allowed to have more than one child; there are many countries where people live in constant fear. I am not saying that the United States is perfect, but especially from an outsiders point of view there are many opportunities and freedoms here that as Americans we take for granted.

     Personally I think of the American dream simply as hope to better my future and the future of my children in any way possible and find a way to find happiness in the life that I am already gifted with. I think it is easy to forget how truly bad life can get, and how truly precious life and it’s simple pleasures truly are. Overall, I think that the American Dream is hope for a better life and I think that it can be attainable, but life is hard and will not hesitate to try and deter you.

Education

     The question of whether college is truly worth it is more prevalent these days than in the past due to the soaring tuition expense. I have debated whether or not it was worth it for many years before I finally gave in.

     Honestly, I think that experience is far more valuable than just having a degree.  Unfortunately it seems that companies are putting much more weight in the degree than they used to. I have never had a problem getting a job, however; that was because I was willing to start at the bottom and work my way up in order to gain experience and respect for my hardworking abilities. Education plays a small roll in obtaining entry level jobs. Most employers looking for applicants are so worried about finding someone who will show up for every shift and be willing to do all of the work required to worry about their college education. I had great success in the strategy to prove myself and work my way up through the ranks of the companies I invested in. The problem was that I always had to start at the bottom, even after I had obtained a substantial amount of management experience and excellent references I was still expected to start at the bottom because I didn’t have a degree stating that I was educated enough to do the job. More than once I was passed over for promotion because the owner decided it was better to hire a college graduate with no experience to be the store manager, and more than once was I called upon to take over the position for that new hire because they weren’t a right fit, or because the lack of experience was a hindrance to their management effectiveness. Unfortunately, I was never offered comparable salaries as the college graduates and if ever I left the company would be forced to again start at the bottom while the college graduates who had been let go would be able to walk in to a management position at any other business in town. I can’t even describe how frustrating this fact is to me.

     I do not think that having a college education would have made me any more qualified for the management positions in which I worked, but I do think that the education does demand respect from the employer. Society has pushed the need for college so aggressively for so long that it has prejudiced itself from being able to see and appreciate the capabilities of those without. And it is this reason that at the age of 33 I have chosen to go back to school and finally get my degree. I feel that no matter how hard I work or how much I give I will always be last resort option for management and will never be allowed to progressive beyond upper management within a company. I want to be able to show what I am capable of and am hoping that even though I live in a very tough economy my newly earned degree paired with my extensive experience and record of successful management skills will help me to find a company that will see my true potential.

Introduction

The first night of school is always stressful and awkward for me; however, on the first night of my writing 100 class all my stress was relieved when I met Jen. Jen was so friendly and outgoing that she managed to ease the stresses of starting a new class. That is why when we were given our first assignment to write about another classmate I instantly thought that it was her in which I would like to learn more about. Jen Von Haack was born in South Carolina, four years ago she moved to Hamburg Pennsylvania. She is 27 years old and currently a sophomore at Cedar Crest College. Her hobbies include hiking, rock climbing, spending time with friends, and watching movies. Jen also loves to travel. She has traveled across the U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and as soon as time permits would love to visit Mexico. Currently Jen is employed as a waitress at Cracker Barrel; however her true passion of helping others is driving her towards a career in Nursing. I greatly respect this choice of career, it is one that I personally could not handle and I am grateful that there are people like Jen in the world with such compassion for others to drive them to work tirelessly to keep the rest of us healthy and alive. I am grateful for the opportunity I was given to learn about Jen Von and wish her happiness and prosperity throughout her future career and life experiences.