Let Glendale have the Walmart

Am I the only person who remembers reading and being shocked by the L.A. Times Pulitzer prize-winning three-part expose of Walmart, published in 2003, titled “The Wal-Mart Effect”?

I suggest anyone on the fence in the “let-‘em-in or keep ‘em out” debate go back and read what was written. Since reading about their business practices in those articles, I have never again set foot in a Walmart store and never will.

I will go without that new T-shirt before I’ll cause some mother in Honduras to work 18 hours a day to meet her quota while her children take care of themselves. A bargain is a good thing, but not at that price.

We strive to save the rain forest and the rest of the planet, yet we do nothing to help the people who live there just so we can save a couple of bucks on things we really don’t need anyway.

Burbank doesn’t have a Nordstroms, either. If you want to shop there, you drive to Glendale. If we don’t have a Walmart, you can drive to Panorama City. We don’t need shuttered shops and the traffic of people pouring in from all over the East Valley to shop at a Walmart.

If you want a laugh, Google “people of Walmart” for a selection of shoppers you may encounter.

I truly hope we follow the example of Inglewood and keep Walmart out. Let them go to Glendale or Pasadena. We’re stuck with the airport. Let them have the Walmart.

Lori McCaffery

Burbank