Marge Greene Goes to War with Walmart

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A week ago I wrote about Congresswoman Marge Greene's unhinged wrath over the fact that American retailers had the unmitigated gall to sell personal massagers - items which she referred to as "sex toys" - on the shelves of their stores.  She had vented her spleen on Twitter, citing two giant corporate retailers  as offenders of her very acute sensibilities:  Target and CVS.

Well that was then, and this is now.

Congresswoman Greene has once again taken to Twitter to tell another American corporation what it should and should not be selling to Americans, and again her focus is on personal massagers, and again she is calling them "sex toys" and castigating the world's largest retailer as a "groomer."

(And when a bitter conservative refers to a person or a business as a "groomer," they mean grooming children, not dogs and cats.)

This time Marge has gone after Walmart, and she has her sights set on the Walmart in Dalton, Georgia, which is apparently in her congressional district and therefore her responsibility to supervise.

The erstwhile representative who is, herself, the very model of a Walmart shopper - a loud, privileged white woman who is concerned with what other people are buying - posted the following tweet on Twitter a couple of days ago:

"@Walmart

many of your customers in my district are reaching out to me about sex toys being sold in your Dalton store. They’re extremely upset and absolutely horrified that sex toys are being sold openly right next to children’s toothbrushes! This is grooming."

 

Aside from the fact that there is no direct reference in the US Constitution that gives members of the House of Representatives the specific right or responsibility to police retail sales, it is also obvious that Marge may not know too much about the shopping habits of most Americans.  When children go to Walmart, they head for the toy aisles.  It would be a very strange child who was focused on comparing and selecting tooth brushes, and even if that was to happen, chances are slim that the child would then focus on something designed and packaged to appeal to his or her parents.  The "sex toys" that she is so upset about are presented in such a mundane manner as to be almost invisible except to someone who is focused on finding them.

Then Marge posted this jewel of a follow-up tweet in which she lays down her "demand" to Walmart:

On behalf of my district, I am demanding

@Walmart

resolve this issue immediately. I sincerely hope this is not common product placement in your stores and that the employees responsible will be reprimanded.  

I do not believe this repulsive grooming represents Walmart. 

The loud congresswoman claims to come from a business background, but her understanding of retail sales seems to be limited - particularly with regard to large retail chains.  

Walmart follows an identical floorpan for most - if not all of its stores.  Item placement is studied carefully and it is the same across all stores - at least across stores of similar size.   I know for a fact that several years ago the old store in Bentonville, Arkansas, almost right across Walton Boulevard from the corporate headquarters, was being used as the "layout" model to study placement of products.

And it is parents who generally buy toothbrushes for their children, and it is parents who have an interest in personal massagers, items that Marge sneeringly refers to as "sex toys" - and at least one news source described as "marital aids."

Stand strong, Walmart.  You didn't get where you are today by letting every Tom, Dick, and Karen tell you how to run your business.  Run it your way!