walmart incident
By SaNdRa15
@SaNdRa15 (128)
United States
March 19, 2010 12:32pm CST
sorry if this thread's already out there, but i was wondering what other myLotters were thinking about the intercom incident at Wal-Mart. at a Wal-Mart store, someone (they don't know who yet) picked up a telephone attached to the intercom system and told "all black people" to get out of the store. Obviously, i find this racist. but my question is, do you think Wal-Mart is to blame? other stores have telephone intercom systems, too. would it make a difference if it was a teenager versus an adult; employee versus customer? would you be willing to wait in line longer for pricechecks in order for Wal-Mart to take all telephones out of the aisles so this does not happen again? what do you think?
2 people like this
12 responses
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
19 Mar 10
I would say that it could happen at any any store not just wal * mart and who knows it probably has. To take phones out of one chain store would mean they'd need to take them out of any chain store with a potential prankster racist. I'd say that they should try to catch the person responsible and that's that.
As for waiting, I wouldn't mind either way.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
23 Mar 10
Well it's human nature to blame others, I know I've done it before. It's not right mind you, but Wal*Mart knows that they couldn't have known that it was going to happen. Yea monitoring the phones more closely or taking them down and putting them in other places
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
20 Mar 10
This was obviously a prank! I think it is unfortunate that someone thought this funny and may be getting away with it. I don't think that Wal-mart and all its customers should be punished for this, by taking all the phones. And that it may affect how fast you get through the check outs. Maybe just a simple code for the phones would work. So that only employees would be able to use the intercom, and not would-be pranksters.
@galileo2008 (1141)
• Philippines
20 Mar 10
I've read about this incident online and it saddens me. Although we never know who actually did that thing, we cannot put a blame on walmart right away because we don't really what really happened. It's just too sad to hear other people really do that. I mean, come on, we're all humans and we should treat each other with respect and not based on the color of our skin or from which minority group you belong to.
@SaNdRa15 (128)
• United States
20 Mar 10
You would think that people would understand that skin color, country of origin, etc. just don't matter. I guess some people find it easier to be prejudiced than to treat others the way they want to be treated. Maybe someday the person who did this will find themselves on the receiving end of racism and know how it feels.
@randylovesdar (4932)
• United States
19 Mar 10
I was upset when I heard about this incident. I do not think that Walmart is to blame unless it was someone in the store. I have a feeling that it was a joke (a very cruel one at that). It is extremely racist and it could cause Walmart their business. I have a bad feeling that nobody is going to shop in that particular store again. I know if it were me I would not want to.
@hofferp (4734)
• United States
20 Mar 10
While it may have been a joke to the person who did it (and I think it was a teenager), it is certainly racism. I don't blame Wal-Mart, but they do need to set their intercom up so only employees may use it. I'm surprised they don't already have that in place. If it was an employee, the employee should be fired. If it's a customer, and they catch him/her, I would not allow him/her back in any Wal-Mart store, not just this one.
@EnslinPorter (1718)
• Philippines
19 Mar 10
I think Wal-Mart is not to blame. Those telephone intercom systems are essential to the pace of their work and for the speed of the transactions too. That person who picked up the phone should be found. Removing that system is not the answer and would even make all transactions, longer line for pricechecks as you mentioned. Even if there is a saying that "the customer is always right," I think that should apply as long as the customer is within reason. After all, the business/service provider is built up with people and not just machines that must be ordered what to do.
@Chevee (5905)
• United States
19 Mar 10
I really don't think Wal-Mart is to blame. Wal-Mart does not have control over other people actions or the way they feel or think. However, I do think that Wal-Mart should take desperate precaution and not let this happen again. Someone had possesion of that intercom, did some damage that can't be undone. I think they should try to find who did it and make them pay the cost for what they did. Example FIRED. I am sure all or most blacks was offended even the ones that work for the company. It is so much going on in this world today you never know what to expect. And like another responder said, it could have easily been aimed at the whites also. I suggest Wal_mart punish the offender.
@bwaybaby (903)
• United States
19 Mar 10
I think this is just a terrible incident, but Wal-Mart is not to blame. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would do that. If it was a customer, then Wal-Mart might want to figure out how to keep customers off the intercom. There's no reason to get rid of the phones. They're also there in case of emergencies.
Unfortunately, sometimes people just do stupid things. I have a friend who is one of the people in charge of security at a Super Wal-Mart. Both customers and employees do really stupid things.
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
19 Mar 10
It's a very sad thing if this really happened. I can't see that Wal-mart is to blame. How could they be? Maybe they just need to put a code on the phone so that it won't engage the intercom without it. Then only those who know the store's code would have access. That would not slow down service by much and it might be better than having them totally removed! If it was an employee they should be fired immediately. That should be the case no matter what racist statement they might have said. Even if they'd said "all white people leave the building!"
@lakerfanster (2577)
•
19 Mar 10
This is absolutely disgraceful and I had not heard about it before this discussion. This is not the fault of Wal-Mart but the individual involved. I am sure that if it was an employee they will know who it was as I'm sure there are Black People who work in that store and may have been called racial names by this person.
