Walmart exploits rising gas prices

Ok so I first have to say that I personally love commercials. I look forward to superbowl sunday just for this reason. I love ones that make me laugh, that touch my heart and the just plain unique and genius ones. Adverstising is a great outlet for creativity and because most commercials are short they have to be good to make an impression. Good or create an emotion. Either way I have never been as outraged by a commercial as I was by this one.

Walmart projects this by the people for the people concept. It uses lower prices and cheaper merchandise to gain their customers. This has proven to be quite effective considering the fact that walmart tends to drive more revenue and continually puts smaller stores out of business.  I mean where else can you buy a  T.V., Get your oil changed and pick up something for dinner all in one place. As most big families know this convenience tends to become a necessity. They provide a service nobody else has yet to come close too. Good for them!

I in the past have been particulary fond of their commercials. They used to focus on the prices and merchandise and whats related. I cannot recall a time when the focus was off what it needed to be. Everbody knows the happy face and roll-back prices. Quite effective I thought. Evidently this is not working for advertisers anymore. Now they feel the need to exploit rising gas prices to drive customers in.

The country is in a crisis already with gas prices rising well over three dollars a gallon in some places. Why do we need reminding of this? I don’t know anybody who doesn’t wince at filling up or even topping off. With no relief in site and everybody already felling the sting this does not seem a great thing to use as a makreting tool.

I can understand their concept and even appreciate it slightly but it still makes me mad. It’s not like this company really needs to stoop to something like this anyway. In my town Super Walmart has managed to chase every other retailer away while they continue to pop stores up. Seems pretty lucrative a business to me.

If Sam Walton were alive do you think he’d stand for this? He wanted this business to be a family based interest company. Somewhere people could shop for what they needed at decent prices. Exploiting people for what they need was not in my opinion his vision at all. Walmart still has the good prices and occasionally smiling faces. They have taken over the convenience necessity. I am sure they can find other ways to drive their consumers in without having to exploit what has become a painful necessity for all!

Hello world!

Hello world! After what seems like an eternity I am coming back to what used to be me. I’ve spent years changing diapers and kissing boo boos and forgot that I was once a creative and intelligent woman with a voice that needs to be heard! While my viewpoints may have changed from who’s hot to what diaper brands are best I can not keep quiet any longer. I have learned a lot from being a mom and want to share with everyone my unique way of managing a budget , getting the worst stains out of clothes and everything in between. I promise to entertain and enlight and always keep you guessing! Topic suggestions are welcome and feel free to comment!

How to:Surviving Football Season

I racked my brain for the first piece of wisdom I could pass on to my fellow women. After a while I realized the topic was staring me smack dab in the face. Football season in all it’s glory is exciting for many but can be a pain for those who don’t enjoy it, don’t get it, or just don’t care. Hopefully I can help those who fall into these categories by providing some basic tips for getting through the next 16+ weeks.

First tip I can offer is this, don’t hate your hubby – significant other- for their obsession. They can’t help it. Just like our obsessions with Grey’s Anatomy and similar shows they can’t live without it. By understanding and relating it becomes possible to accept this part of your relationship. Just as I hope your better halves accept it as well.

If all else fails and you just can’t stand it anymore go shopping. Finding an outside distraction for the day can help to pass the mundane hours that’s spent in front of the T.V. while he screams obscenities and throws things when his team fumbles the ball. It will also give you something to look forward to through out the week. If your real crafty you can get this time to yourself. Call it a bonding moment between Father and Child.

Forget about him doing anything else until footballs over. Honey do lists are put on hold and the garbage will have to wait. The fact is even if you ask him something you won’t get heard let alone get anything done. Another thing that can’t be helped. They can only concentrate on one thing and at that moment it’s not what you want.

Finally, if there is to be any hope for quality time my suggestion would be to suck it up and try to understand what the hype is all about. As the saying goes if you can’t beat em’,  join em’. Ask questions and feign interest. Guys love to teach and if you give them an oppurtunity like that you can guarentee countless hours of communication. Occasionally you might even get to talk about what you want too.

If you try to compromise or even join in a lot of needless fights can be avoided. Men have been obsessed with football for years and you’d be hard pressed to find one that wasn’t, so why not try to make the best of the situation. I know the season can seem endless but think of it this way; by doing this for them you have a great bargaining tool to use when you want to hit up that B&B come vacay time.

The Inevitable

First a little background info. My oldest daughter was born to me at a young age. I was just three years older then she is now when I had her. I was not fully able to grasp the responsibilty there is to raising a child at the tender age of 16. I loved her dearly but realized very soon that what she needed was stability and that i could not offer her this. I did the smartest thing I could and let my parents adopt her. They could give her what she needed and this way i would still be able to be a part of her life.

This brings me to the inevitable. My parents have decided to move away from the town we all live in to be closer to my Father’s job. The distance isn’t far but for me it feels like a lot farther. With four more kids at home even leaving our house to go to the store becomes a chore. The idea that she will be 2 hours away instead of a few blocks is a hard thing to swallow.

My Mother and I have not had the best of relationships. Especially where my daughter is concerned. Reily knows who her mom is and the complete background on her life. The adoption was completely open and even allowed for me to have her visit. She has a relationship with her siblings and calls me mom as well. This has not been an easy thing for my mom. She has always tried to keep us at arms length and even seemed to enjoy the fact that our relationship was strained. Over the last year Reily and I have gotten closer. We have bonded and become friends even. My mother is controlling and can’t stand that we have a relationship. She doesn’t like that we talk and makes that apparently clear.

I can certainly understand how she feels. She has spent the last 13 years raising, loving and caring for her and she is afraid that I will replace her and all that she has done. I don’t blame her for feeling this way. I have done everything in my power to try and reassure her but to no avail. She allows me to be a part of her life but tries to “poison the well” in the process. This puts Reily in a difficult position and leaves me feeling like I have no ground to stand on.

I have spent years living by her rules just to keep the flow of communication open for my child and me. Trying to keep the peace and make everyone happy. I think I had dillusions that someday this would pay off for me in the end. When I found out they were moving it was like my world was shattered. I am left feeling betrayed by my own actions and regretful of the past. I am scared that the hard work I have done will be lost and have meant nothing. How do I love her but yet respect the person who has cared for her this long. I never let go and now I have no choice.

They move this weekend and I have still not come to terms with my emotions. I feel like I am grieving over something lost. I have been promised with frequent visits and realistically I know this is possible, but my heartache won’t allow me to really accept this. Only time can determine the inevitable future.

This is my child, Yet she is not mine-

My flesh and blood, but their sweat and tears-

She caries my genes, Yet will be shaped by their

personalities-

She lives strong in my heart, but her heart

feels for them-

She lives in my fantasies, my dreams.

Yet she’s their dream come true, their beautiful

and precious reality-

 

 

I gave her life, with which she made theirs whole

I learned so much to love her, that I let her go-

My child, their child it doesn’t make sense,

Yet at the same time-

My child, my dream for her to have better, then I

could give,

Their child, their dream, to give her better then

I could give,-

My child, so painful, the hurt caused by her

leaving so much grieving,

Yet a world full of happiness in their receiving.

© Heather Corcoran-Schneider