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Not In My Backyard
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| First a rumor, now a local headline. Wal-Mart is coming to town. Maybe a Lowe's or Home Depot too. My heart is torn. I'd love to be able to do all my shopping in town, but I don't want acres of parking lots being Dillsburg's new landmark. |
| No way, I murmur to myself. Not in my backyard. |
| Then I remember it's not in my backyard. I live on the outskirts of town. My backyard is a corn field. A future shopping mall maybe, but not in this decade. This might not be too bad, I think. Then I think of the casualties. 84 Lumber, M & W Hardware, Mike's Auto Supply. The list goes on. |
| It's all about money, really. Or the things money buys. Usually it's time. Time to live comfortably after selling the farm. Time to go on that last vacation before you "buy the farm". I haven't reached that point in my life yet where I'd be willing to sacrifice my land for a free ticket to Florida. |
| But Wal-Mart. What is it about Wal-Mart that everyone hates? We all shop there. Oh, come on, you've been there. They have great prices on all the junk we buy. I'd much rather pay 8 bucks for junk at walmart, then 12 dollars from Joe, the local guy. Or would I? Wow, maybe not. I guess it really doesn't matter what I would do. It's not my backyard, so I'm going to sit back and watch the show. I'll complain about it later. That's for sure. |
| A long time ago someone taught me something. They taught me to be humble.
To stop throwing stones. I used to complain about all the people in their
cars, but then I realized I was in a car too. And I was mad because the
person in front of or behind me decided that their cruising speed was
going to be six or seven MPH different than mine. Everyone should be
like me. My taste in music is the best. Land developers are scum.
This is what I thought, while tailgating. Then I started thinking about
what that person said. |
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The difference between a developer and an environmentalist is that a developer is a person who wishes to build houses out in the woods, whereas an environmentalist is someone who already has a house out in the woods. |
| I hope Walmart stays away. But I won't complain too much if it shows up. Because I drive. My house is in the corner of a field. I use an inordinate amount of plastic drinking cups, every day. I let machines modify my behavior. We all do. TV, Internet, coffee machine, video games. All sold at Walmart. See you there. |
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I hope cars will run on water soon.
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| Tell me what you think about bringing Wal-Mart to town. I'll put it on the site, if you'd like. |
| UPDATED 12.27.02 |
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Wow, the response to this was overwhelming. I made my stance a bit vague, perhaps even obtuse, on puropse. The two reasons being: 1- I wanted responses I think I have made my mind up about one thing. If there is a product I can buy locally, I'll buy it here (and not Wal-Mart). Other than that, I plan on meeting with some folks who are interested in finding an alternative to Wal-Mart in Dillsburg. To be more precise, they think Wal-Mart will be bad for our town. They just might be right. You can contact them at: Smart Growth for Northern York County
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