Love it or Hate it: Wal-Mart.........your opinions wanted!

Message

TechTMW · #21 Unread post by **TechTMW** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:37 pm

I despise wal-mart. But my time in Italy are blissfully Wal-Mart free, and I don't miss it one bit! (And I don't miss those venerable denizens of Wal-Mart ... the Wal-Martians)

There are some Superstores in Italy like the IperFamilia, Coop, and Carrefour, which are very Wal-Mart-like. The same thing is happening here that's been happening in America for the past 30 or 40 years ... there's a mom and pop store on pretty much every street corner around here, and most people can walk to where they need to go to buy what they want.

However, as the youths of Italy grow up and become more "Americanized" they tend to hop in the car and drive everywhere - and that includes to the superstores. I can only see the trend continuing here. What at least gives me a little hope is that the Superstores here all seem to carry LOCAL PRODUCE when they can, which is a huge plus, but even if it's not local, it usually comes from within the EU, which is a hell of alot better than Wal-Mart's "buy it from the cheapest third world nation of the moment" produce.

Wed Mar 30, 2005 2:45 pm

Tech..how much does a gallon of gas cost in Italy these days??

oldnslo · #23 Unread post by **oldnslo** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:17 pm

Local produce? What a concept! Here on the Pacific coast where the best salmon in the world are fished, the local Costco has a big cool case full of ATLANTIC salmon, a completely inferior breed, and they are farm fish to boot. In all my visits to the store, I have never even seen one person standing by the case looking at them. The case is generally regarded with the same respect as a huge pile of dog dodo in the middle of an aisle. On the bright side, local salmon[delicious] are available at fish markets and canneries everywhere down here.
Washington and Oregon apples and other fruit are considered to be the best available, but at least 90% of them are shipped to the east coast and out of country. We get the seconds, apples kept in cold storage for a year, which gives that pulpy, dried-out taste. Nummy!

If it's not about oil or power, it's about money, all the time.....

Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:55 pm

i find Atlantic Salmon quite delectable, it reminds me of the wet sawdust they fed us in the chaingang.

oldnslo · #25 Unread post by **oldnslo** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 6:34 pm

Your local Costco has lots of "chaingang chow."

TechTMW · #26 Unread post by **TechTMW** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 7:15 pm

Hey White ... Gas is currently at 1.20 euro per liter, which makes it roughly 4.44 euro per gallon ... at the current weak dollar conversion that's
.
.
.
.
.
.

$5.92 per gal of regular unleaded .

oldnslo · #27 Unread post by **oldnslo** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 7:28 pm

OW! OW! OW! OW!

Thu Mar 31, 2005 10:33 am

if i ever visit Italy i will bring my 50cc Yamaha Vino scooter with me.

#29 Unread post by **sv-wolf** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:10 am

TechBMW wrote:Hey White ... Gas is currently at 1.20 euro per liter, which makes it roughly 4.44 euro per gallon ... at the current weak dollar conversion that's

$5.92 per gal of regular unleaded .

Just done the calculation for the UK. Very much the same. One US gallon of basic unleaded over here works out at 6.03 US dollars.

So what do you pay?

I didn't realise till I looked it up just now that you have bigger gallons in the U.S. than we do here in the UK. Presumably that means you also have bigger pints. And that, in turn, means you must drink more beer than we do. (I wonder what a German gallon must look like?)

Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:45 pm

in atlanta georgia 87 octane is $2.11 a gallon and rising.