THE WORLD'S LARGEST RETAILER

Serendipity happens.
This mormimg was cloudy, raining. I had thought of staying in and occupying myself with the cultural panacea called television.
Self inflicted wounds are not my forte. however.
So I set out to continue exploring the world around me.
As I exited my quarters Jim emerged from the downstairs.
Hey, Frazzi," he called. I'm heading over to Wal Mart. Wanna come?"
Wal Mart. The Mecca of American shopping. To date I had confined myself to the local merchants. A trip to the largest retailer in the world sounded like it would be enlightening.
"Sure," I replied. "Actually, I've never been in one."
"Well, come on. We've got to do our part to keep the Chinese economy from collapsing."
We left the house and got into Jim's car. I used the drive to broaden my perspective.
"The Chinese econonmy ?" I asked.
"Yeah, " replied Jim. "most of what they sell is from China."
"Why?"
" 'Cause it's cheap. Heck, most of what we buy these days is from overseas. This shirt was made in Thailand, my shorts in Malaysia. My underwear's from Pakistan, made by Muslims who would probably as soon kill me as take my money."
" All these places produce things more cheaply than you can make it yoursselves?'
"Yep. Seems we don't make nuch anymore."
"America is the largest economy, the richest nation. How do you manage to stay that way?"
The monkey boy thought for a minute. "Intellectual property. We make the best movies and T.V. shows. Sell them all around the world."
Ah! Now i began to see why the United States was looked down on, even despised in many places. Jerry Springer as an export would have that kind of effect, I reasoned.
A ten minute drive, mainly on twisting little side streets, brought us to a drab looking strip mall. Anchoring one end was the Wal Mart, it's presence declared to the world in oversized white letters.
"Here we are," announced Jim. We got out of the car. "The world's largest retailer."
"Where else are they?"
"Heck, they are trying to get in everywhere. Even China. They're going to try and sell cheap Chinese goods to the Chinese themselves."
Sounds like a plan.
We headed for the store..........

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