Not a Blue Light Special

Well, I made my first trip inside a WalMart in some ten years today (personal boycott temporarily suspended due to a desperate quest to find a reasonably priced desk lamp). Besides the overwhelming amount of junk available and the largely overweight customers (average weight 260lb/male), one thing struck me as unreal.

Price for a coke from the pop machine at WalMart: 50cents
Price for a coke from the pop machine at KMart: 60 cents

Unbelievable. Not only can mom and pop shops not compete against the evil that is WalMart, large established companies can't even equal (much less beat) them on a can of soda. Incredible. This information alone sent me back to the Goodwill and secondhand shops to find my lamp. The way I figure it, I just used WalMart for their AC and added extra wear and tear on their parking lot. I am sure I cost them .000000001 of one cent. Of course, the free advertisment I just gave them in Coca Cola advertising will probably counterbalance even my most minisicule of victories.