anybody been to a Mexican Wal-Mart?

[maggrwaggr]

I worked with a guy yesterday who told me that he'd been down in Cabo San Lucas and went to the local Wal Mart.

He said the entire work force of the WalMart was, aside from a few managers, children.

Like 10 - 12 year old children.

He said it was really shocking.

Anybody else know anything about this? I'd like to see this get out there.

It would certainly be easy to document. :)

[LibertyorDeath]

1. Sam would be so proud

[samhonk]

2. I went to the one in Cancun in 1997

I didn't notice that there were young kids working there - and I think I would have, if there were.

Mostly I noticed the difference in the merchandise available; two things that stood out were: they had a lot of cloth for people to make their own clothes, and pig heads. I found those both pretty refreshing - that the Mexican folks would be doing DIY clothing, which I admire, and that they don't seem to be as squeamish as Americans about admitting what meat-eating really entails. Remember that hoo-ha a few years back where the woman found a fried chicken head in her McDonald's chicken?

[eleny]

7. They carried whole hog's heads at my store

in a Denver suburb. Usually during the holidays.

[Tansy_Gold]

9. DIY clothing, child labor, and some observations

I know no one will pay any attention to my rant, but I'm going to rant anyway. (That's the beauty of DU.)

A couple of weeks ago on Bill Moyers' NOW, they did a story about a Mexican-American family of migrant farm workers. Moyers and Brancaccio pointed out that former NYSE prez Richard Grasso's retirement package of something in excess of $140 million would pay 20,000 -- that's TWENTY THOUSAND -- workers an annual salary equivalent to what the family featured in this segment made.

The eldest daughter, a straight-A high school senior, talked about how she and the other children went to the fields with their parents from about age 5, not just because there wasn't any place else for them to go but because the little bit of money they earned was needed for the family. Up at 3 a.m., two hours on a bus to the fields, work until sundown, two hours home, then to bed by 10 or 11 and up again the next day at 3 to start all over.

School came second to the exigencies of migrant work; they often left school long before the end of the academic year and didn't get back until long after the start of the next one. The daughter and her brother, a year or so younger, had persevered, but it was hard, very hard. Unbelievably hard.

Finally came her senior year, and she begged to be allowed to stay in school rather than go with the family on the trek north to follow the crops. After much family discussion, they decided to stay, I think it was in Texas, so the kids could go to school. To make up for the lost wages, they all pitched in to help make underwear (hear that, Sara Lee????!!!! :grr:) to sell to their neighbors. They could make about $100 a week -- remember, they're selling to fellow working-poor families who aren't able to shell out $25 for a Victoria's Secret thong! (Is that how much VS thongs cost? Wouldn't know; have never shopped there and don't much care for thongs anyway.)

The point I'm trying to make, and probably not succeeding at, is that I think a lot of us just don't notice how much of our "prosperity" -- a closet full of clothes, a fridge full of fresh fruit, enough CDs that we could listen to a new one every hour for a year without hearing the same one twice -- comes at a high cost to some very invisible folks. When we do see it, we're appalled, but as long as we don't have to look, we don't have to think about it.

More important, we don't have to do anything about it.

Tansy Gold, finished with one rant for the day

[maggrwaggr]

12. good rant. Most people don't know and don't WANT to know

they'd rather just turn up the music in their cars and ignore it

[tom_paine]

3. Amerika 2050: Unless the Busheviks are STOPPED!

[Cleita]

4. I wouldn't doubt it.

I worked with Mexican nationals in restaurants in LA. Many were only fifteen years old but lied saying they were eighteen to get work. Many told me they had been working since they were six or seven years old. Most were illiterate because of this. I wonder if they make the same wages those Mexicans got which back in 1970 was approximately 75 cents a day?

[gatorboy]

5. If Bush was really into expanding democracy....

....He shoulda invaded Mexico.

[LanternWaste]

6. I live in Cancun and...

I live in Cancun and the Wal-Mart here seems pretty tame compared to what you've described. It's not that I enjoy shopping there, but the guy who's letting me stay with him until I find an apartment shops there.

[TahitiNut]

8. The age of consent in Mexico is 12

Isn't that nice? :eyes:

[TexasMexican]

13. "Age of Consent in Canada is 14"

So what. :eyes:

People who molest children in Mexico probably get dealt with extralegally.

[jayavarman]

10. I was at a walmart-like store called Soriana in manzanillo a month ago

Actually, it was the best store I've ever been to. Mainly an awesome supermarket, huge bakery, fresh meats & veggies of every kind . . . . they also sold scooters, furniture & appliances.

Everyone who worked there looked pretty much like people who work in stores here.
The only kids I saw were with parents

[Elbowroom]

11. yes...in atlanta

i live in the atlanta metor area...all wal-marts around here are pretty much mexican wal-marts these days.

[ContinentalOp]

14. That doesn't sound right.

Are there so many jobs in Mexico that the only people available to work in Wall Mart are children? It doesn't sound quite believable, not that I would put it past Wall Mart.