OPINION

MIKE MASTERSON: Waldron next to fall in Wal-Mart closures

I occasionally tease Wal-Mart because, well, it's just so darn easy to point out the Martian adventures amid the aisles.

But kidding aside, it's a somber event when the Godzilla of retailers decides to shutter its store in a smaller community. The 3,800 residents of the west-central Arkansas town of Waldron have come to depend heavily on their Wal-Mart that replaced other local merchants when it opened.

As with others of late, the population will have limited shopping, employment and pharmacy options at best. That means road trips to nearby larger communities who still have their Wal-Marts. This creates a big problem for older residents and the debilitated.

Those in Waldron make an even dozen combined with the 11 other Arkansas communities to lose the services, employment and shopping benefits of their Wal-Mart since Jan. 1, 2016. For many of their former shoppers and employees, it must feel like a dependable friend they'd come to rely upon just packed up and left a gaping hole in their lives.

News reports from last year show Wal-Mart closed its doors in the Arkansas communities (with 2010 Census populations) of: Mansfield, 1,139; Mulberry, 1,655; Charleston, 2,522; Coal Hill, 1,012; Damascus, 382; Decatur, 1,699: Gentry, 3,126; Gravette, 2,325; Van Buren, 21,735; Maumelle, 17,163 and Prairie Grove, 4,380.

My brain is far too shrunken to become a math prodigy, but I'd say someone in Bentonville determined closing less productive stores in Arkansas towns in the, say, 3,000-population range made good business sense for them.

But man, oh, man, did it ever leave so many good folks hurting in so many ways. Did I mention lost sales taxes?

Closings last year included 154 U.S. Wal-Mart stores, supercenters, neighborhood markets and Sam's Clubs across the country and 269 various holdings globally. The U.S. closings affected the jobs of some 10,000 Wal-Mart associates. At the same time, the corporation announced plans to open at least 400 new stores in the U.S. and globally.

If there's a larger lesson in all this, valued readers, I'm not sure what it would be except perhaps to concede life is a river in which we all eventually find ourselves going with its flow.

Biggest problem

Ol' ignorant me. I believed this sort of disgusting practice only happened in the alleyways and subway vents of major cities.

At least that's what my nose told me each time I visited sophisticated metropolises back east. I also can never forget the distinctive urban waftings during my reporting stint at the Chicago Sun-Times. They tended to detract from the charm of the Windy City.

But, it turns out, the No. 1 problem, as opposed to a leaky roof or fritzy air conditioning at the Craighead County Courthouse in Jonesboro is: Hold your breath, wait for it ... visitors urinating in the elevator.

That's what no less an authority than The Associated Press reported the other day in a story that made headlines well beyond our state.

I'm assuming with overwhelming confidence the offenders to be visitors since I'm convinced the elected administrative officials, judges and such have acquired the civilized decency to use one of the building's three available restrooms.

It wouldn't have surprised me a whiff if the courthouse's biggest problem flows from those who come and go from the courtrooms.

But County Judge Ed Hill tells me the few who've been charged and prosecuted were older men.

Culprits have been caught in the act on security cameras, which Hill says have been placed in elevators and throughout the building. "We had to install them to prove what had been happening, and for greater overall protections," he said. "We're hoping this will put a stop to it."

But why this courthouse in this community? In a university city of some 72,000 surrounded by farms and agricultural fields, I'd say there's plenty of available space other than the primary courthouse elevator, for the love of Gawd.

Suppose much of this anti-social behavior has been intentional, kinda like a spoiled child throwing, well, a hissy fit of sorts?

Shooting off feet

When do you think Hollywood thespians and any number of businesses decided to become overtly political, thereby alienating half their potential customers?

I know affected Hollywood types are almost exclusively uber-leftist (even though the actors make their lucrative livings in our capitalist system) but the wholly unnecessary politicized pronouncements by such enterprises as Starbucks, Target, Heineken and others are commercially self-destructive.

As of this year, there are a dozen or more self-important movie stars (think Sean Penn, Johnny Depp) I'll no longer pay to watch and businesses I'll choose not to patronize because they've chosen to politically radicalize themselves rather than focusing solely on what they do or sell for all their customers.

Needlessly shooting off one's entire foot over politics seems beyond foolhardy to me.

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Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.

Editorial on 06/27/2017

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