I present to you, The People of Walmart

[WilsonTC]

Originally Posted by johnco

Nope, not me. I usually judge people by their attitude, actions and how they treat others more than how they dress, where they shop or what vehicles they drive. I so seldom consider myself better than anyone and know for sure I'm not less than anyone else. just because I'm usually dressed in dirty work clothes and look like a long haired penniless vagrant doesn't mean I don't have more money in my pocket than you make all month. I just love the look people get when the long haired guy in filthy clothes they sneer at walks up to the Mercedes/Porsche/Classic Car they were just admiring, gets in and drives off. priceless!

Well, I tell you! I went to WalMart today and was the only person there wearing Polo and Magli!

And...not that I'm one to compare penis size, but...unless you're an established doctor, attorney or large CEO, you probably don't make more than me.

[DARISC]

Greyhound scraps ‘bus rage’ ads after murder.
Canadian passenger allegedly beheaded, ate fellow traveler.




AP, updated 10:54 a.m. PT, Wed., Aug 6, 2008

[johnco]

wow... didn't type that just for you personally WilsonTC. but since you seem to.... I imagine you'd be the only person in most any store in my town wearing Polo and Magli.

[WilsonTC]

Originally Posted by johnco

I imagine you'd be the only person in most any store in my town wearing Polo and Magli.

Well, I do tend to dress down if I know I'm going to WalMart(s).

[RWebb]

the latest:

61 yr old Sprawlmart shopper slapped a 2 year old child (not his) 4 or 5 times b/c it was too noisy

he is now in jail & the judge refused bond

[slodave]

Originally Posted by RWebb

the latest:

61 yr old Sprawlmart shopper slapped a 2 year old child (not his) 4 or 5 times b/c it was too noisy

he is now in jail & the judge refused bond

Actually, this was covered on page 6, post #114.

[creaturecat]

Originally Posted by johnco

Nope, not me. I usually judge people by their attitude, actions and how they treat others more than how they dress, where they shop or what vehicles they drive. I so seldom consider myself better than anyone and know for sure I'm not less than anyone else. just because I'm usually dressed in dirty work clothes and look like a long haired penniless vagrant doesn't mean I don't have more money in my pocket than you make all month. I just love the look people get when the long haired guy in filthy clothes they sneer at walks up to the Mercedes/Porsche/Classic Car they were just admiring, gets in and drives off. priceless!

Dressed filthy, looking like a vagrant, hanging out at Walmart ............. if the shoe fits; who gives a rat's ass about your big wallet and fancy status symbol.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I agree. If you go out in public looking like a bum, don't be surprised if people think you're a bum. Nobody cares how much money you have - if you dress/look/act/talk like a vagrant, that's how you'll be perceived and treated.

[johnco]

some of us have jobs that are are muddy, wet and dirty. I'm covered in mud 1/2 hour after getting to work. I dig holes for a living. should I wear a suit to work? I don't hang out at walmart, I buy supplies at walmart. I pay cash for everything so I carry what I need. status symbols? not to me. my cars are just cars. most of my cars are junkers. piss off!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Nothing wrong with that. However, you're the one bragging about how much fun it is to deliberately look like a vagrant and then (har-har) get into a nice shiny car, presumably to teach people a lesson about being judgmental. What a ridiculous and juvenile game to revel in. The fact of the matter is, no matter HOW dirty a job you work (and I've worked a few), you can often take the time to change. Also, the perception of people is not simply one's clothing. It's your mannerisms, your speaking, whether or not you have all your teeth and whether or not it looks like you've trimmed your fingernails in the last six months. Stuff like that - it's the complete package that makes someone come off as a shlub or a normal person.

Most people can tell the difference between a respectable person who just happens to have some dirt on them from working in the yard or wrenching on the car, and someone who doesn't care about themselves, is uneducated and slovenly by nature.

Daring people to judge you as a "vagrant" through your deliberate choice of appearance, then getting indignant when they do (telling someone to "piss off", for example) seems rather contradictory to me. If you don't like being perceived as a vagrant, maybe find ways to not look/act/come off so much like one in the first place.

[The Gaijin]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

You really want to educate yourself on the diversity of socioeconomics in America, go to a Greyhound bus terminal sometime. Holy moly.

City run impound yard in east Baltimore makes a bus terminal look like the Oak Room at the plaza...

[johnco]

yes, you're so perfectly correct. I should stop home, shower and dress in nice clothes before I shop the 10 minutes it takes to get a few things I need, then change back into my dirty clothes before jumping back in the mud. honestly... it's only wankers like you guys that look down their noses at people like me. I have a reputation for 100 miles any direction of being honest, hardworking and doing a great job. I'm very good at what I do. no one cares what I look like while I'm working.

[johnco]

amazing how wearing dirty work clothes during work hours have suddenly caused my teeth to fall out, speak in ebonics and my fingernails to grow, then return to normal when I change clothes

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by johnco

amazing how wearing dirty work clothes during work hours have suddenly caused my teeth to fall out, speak in ebonics and my fingernails to grow, then return to normal when I change clothes

Pay no attention to the snobs, John. Many people are insecure and think they have to dress to impress even when they go to Walmart.

Flashback to the Pebble Beach Concours years ago; Seeing this group function was probably what Margaret Mead felt like when she discovered the people of Samoa. Had she gone to PB instead, she would have saved a lot in airfare at the time. But that's another anthropomorphic study.

I was slightly bemused as I wandered among the many earnest socialite-types (obviously. I don't get out too often among this crowd). One example was this woman in her late fifties. She didn't necessarily stand out from her lookalike peers though I think a definite visitor like myself rather than car owner or relative of one. She appeared pleasant enough from my brief observation with her and others, she in her requisite khaki, blue blazer and straw hat. What stood out were the very obvious "designer" logos clearly visible on every piece of clothing and accessory (Calvin Klein, YSL, Bill Blass, DKNY, etc.). I casually made a 360 around her adding up the different logos; also searched for the Banana Republic logo (wife's favorite) but didn't want to appear too obvious despite my wife's rolling eyes at my maneuver. I muttered to my wife, "walking billboard" and shook my head as we continued eyeing the great cars. Had I known blue blazers and khaki were the uniform of the day along with the attitudinal nose positions, I'd have skipped this exercise in elbow rubbing. I've never gone back to PB. Could never find that Walmart in Monterey either.

PB hood ornament in Carmel, '09.


PS: I must have subconsciously chosen this image for this post. Bentley, or whatever vehicle this is (forgive me), knew their clientele.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Good lord you guys are missing the point entirely. I'll say it again:

"Most people can tell the difference between a respectable person who just happens to have some dirt on them from working in the yard or wrenching on the car, and someone who doesn't care about themselves, is uneducated and slovenly by nature."

Above, you freely ADMITTED to making a game out of deliberately looking like a "vagrant" (your words) and then getting into your nice shiny car. I don't think having some dirt or sweat or grease on one makes them look like a "vagrant". It's a package of appearance choices which is far worse than just looking like you've been out working hard.

"Vagrant" and "hard working guy who's a little dirty" are antonyms. Here's the definition courtesy of dictionary.com:

vagrant–noun

1. a person who wanders about idly and has no permanent home or employment; vagabond; tramp.
2. Law. an idle person without visible means of support, as a tramp or beggar.
3. a person who wanders from place to place; wanderer; rover.
4. wandering idly without a permanent home or employment; living in vagabondage: vagrant beggars.
5. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a vagrant: the vagrant life.
–adjective
6. wandering or roaming from place to place; nomadic.
7. (of plants) straggling in growth.
8. not fixed or settled, esp. in course; moving hither and thither: a vagrant leaf blown by the wind.

In other words, a bum.

Say what you want, I'd much rather come off as a snob than a bum. Any day.

There's nothing wrong with looking hard working or dirty from an honest day's work. There's everything wrong with making the deliberate choice to look like a bum - even worse when the person ISN'T a bum.

Geez guys... Reading comprehension. Try it.

[johnco]

I apologize for getting ugly. having a bad day. just got home from having a $7k pet/ct scan to see if my cancer has returned and spread. still doesn't change the fact I really don't care what people think about the way I'm dressed after standing in a foot of mud at the bottom of a 6 ft deep hole. especially after the 13-15 inches of rain we've had in the last 2-3 weeks. we all know how honest, trustworthy, repectable and unselfish well dressed people are so unlike those without designer clothes taste. look at all those politicians, televanglists, wall street investment types, etc always in the news...

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by johnco

yes, you're so perfectly correct. I should stop home, shower and dress in nice clothes before I shop the 10 minutes it takes to get a few things I need, then change back into my dirty clothes before jumping back in the mud. honestly... it's only wankers like you guys that look down their noses at people like me. I have a reputation for 100 miles any direction of being honest, hardworking and doing a great job. I'm very good at what I do. no one cares what I look like while I'm working.

For what it's worth, I agree with your sentiments entirely.

You want to see arseholes? Go to a Sotheby's auction. Or a Pebble Beach Concours — as a previous poster said. (Or almost any concours for that matter!)

And IMO the freaks at Walmart are by and large harmless compared to the freaks that inhabit the white shoe law firms, investment banks and high political offices of the land.

[johnco]

"Above, you freely ADMITTED to making a game out of deliberately looking like a "vagrant" (your words) and then getting into your nice shiny car"

BTW, I don't deliberately dress like a vagrant. I just look that way after/during work because of the type of job I do. this is my nice shiny car I usually drive after work. and one of my work. the day after that picture was taken, we had 6 inches of rain.. then it got muddy. I really must look into buying some fancy designer name work clothes. nothing like dressing nice doing a dirty job

[Heel n Toe]

Cool rod... I love the mailslot rear window.

[924slover]

when im in the middle of a job or right after a job i don't give a second thought about going to buy what i need on the way home. if im in the middle of wrenching and realize i need a part i just dust of the twigs and dirt and go the the store with motor oil everywhere( hair, hands, etc) im not gonna change to go buy a gasket.