The bottom line

Wal-Mart has just offered it's employees a new low-cost health insurance package. It's being lauded as a step in the right direction...and I am immediately suspicious.

It probably seems like a more than generous offer to the "humanitarian" millionaires who own Wal-Mart, but cheap is all a matter of perspective. Sure the monthly premiums are low, but if you read the whole article you see that the plan has high patient contributions toward prescription costs, high emergency room co-pays, and higher deductibles. If you're at all familiar with insurance plans then you know that patient co-payments including those for prescriptions, office visits, and emergency room visits do not count toward your annual deductible. Still cheap? Consider also that most Wal-Mart employees make under $19K per year.

Wal-Mart has always done everything in it's power to thwart efforts at unionization and this seems to be a conciliatory attempt on the company's behalf; one that wasn't designed with the employee's quality of life in mind.

I really want to believe that I am just being cynical; perhaps Wal-Mart is truly taking a step in the right direction. However, in light of the article this week in the times regarding yet another infamous Wal-Mart memo, I am led to believe that Wal-Mart's motives are not altruistic.

The bottom line is that Wal-Mart is only concerned with their bottom line.

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"Over the Shoulder, And Over the Top"

"A bag is sort of like a portable house. It represents you."

"For some women, finding the right bag is as important as oxygen."

These two quotes, ripped from the Thursday Styles section of the Times (NY that is) put the whole thing into perspective for me now. And if you're wondering exactly what I'm talking about when I say the "whole thing", feel free to read about my own personal dilemma. It's amazing to me that we live in such a vacuous and superficial society that we would let a fashion accessory define who we are to others. I thought our biggest concern was with encouraging conspicuous consumption in teens, but when an otherwise highly intelligent adult person would choose to spend upwards of $3000.00 on an accessory item that will be outdated faster than their laptop, I have to wonder at the scope of the problem. I think we're setting a bad example for the younger generation. And to those who would spend that much just to look cool to others I would offer this bit of advice: if you want to invest in something that will really make you feel good about yourself, try taking that three grand and slapping it down on tuition for someone who can't afford a college education, let alone such frivolity.

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