A sour note for choir at Wal-Mart

[natrat]

December 16, 2005

A festive group of high school choir students from Central Islip singing at an Islandia shopping center discovered over the weekend that some people were not in the holiday spirit.

After entering a Wal-Mart store, the choir was quickly asked to leave before even starting to sing its first song.

The Central Islip High School concert choir had just finished a performance at the United Methodist Church off Veterans Memorial Highway, when the students proposed to go caroling in the shopping center across the street.

Their director, John Anthony, approved the move and the group of about 30 students found warm welcomes at the Stop & Shop grocery store and other shops in the center. That is, until they entered Wal-Mart.

Right away, a store manager approached the award-winning group, announcing that they did not have an appointment and that the sheer size of the group posed a fire hazard, Anthony said.

The teens then sang one song - "Guide Me," a classic Welsh tune - to the delight of the customers.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lising164552816dec16,0,3421875,print.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines

[tsuki]

1. Any break for shoppers during the Consumerism Season is some

type of hazard for Wally World.

[natrat]

4. culture inside that company must really suck

[tsuki]

27. I bought the movie for a couple of friends, but then decided to rent it

from the video store. You should see the Walton bunker they have constructed, mostly underground, surrounded by fence and barbwire. That's a scary bunch.

[ropi]

2. aww

does walmart hate christmas now?

better get this out to the fundies...they'll boycott!

[salin]

3. oh-oh will this walmart now be a target for ORielly's war on Christmas?

Nah - he only focuses on fabricated stories - and Walmart complies with his Christmas greeting demands - so they are protected...

[WLKjr]

5. Sounds like the manager was full of shit

I worked at a Wal-Mart for 3 years here in Ohio and we had a group in all three christmas's that I was there at least 2-3 days and at least 2 times those days before December 25.

[tanyev]

6. Who's the manager of that store? Mr. G. Rinch?

[HuffleClaw]

7. i note the walmart folks tried to 'undo' their deed

with a donation and invitation to sing in the store 'at a scheduled time'. that said, i've gotta wonder what sort of bug was up that managers ass that caused him to react the way he did when they first showed up.

[expatriot]

8. Wal-Mart joins other liberal groups in War on Christmas. nt.

[LibDemAlways]

9. The asshole manager was worried that

customers who spent a few minutes listening to the choir might forget their real purpose in coming to the store - to spend their shopping dollars on poorly made crap so that he can present rosy sales figures to corporate and maybe, just maybe, see a little extra green in his own paycheck. The turkey ass is apparently too stupid to realize that spending a few minutes listening to that choir just might have put the shoppers in a more festive, more ready and willing to spend holiday mood. What an idiot. You just know he's a repuke.

[LeftHander]

10. manager saw it would detract from sales...

Had the group called in advance and promoted it, bringing in people....different story.

Regardless....another reason to STAY THE FUCK out of WalMart.

[bleedingheart]

11. Must have been a really small Wal-Mart....cuz if 30 extra people

would pose a fire hazard....well that is a hoot...

Typically aren't they huge big boxes????


bwahahahaha humbug...

[noamnety]

14. They're only a fire hazard if they are unscheduled

isn't that odd?

I wonder if they schedule their fires.

[Straight Shooter]

12. The manager forgot that people in a good mood will spend more.

I can hardly bear the holiday/Christmas season, but carolers have always enchanted me and briefly lifted me out of my cynical state of mind.

Fire hazard, indeed. What, he's going to get cited? He must be feeling like a real idiot now.

[bleedingheart]

13. yep....my son and I broke into song into the local store when

we heard Bing Crosby's Hawaiian christmas song....it was cute....and put us in a good mood...

[Bloodblister Bob]

15. I have to side with dreaded Wal-Mart on this one...

...It was presumptuous and rude of the choir to walk uninvited into the store, which is private property, and just start singing. I don't like Wal-Mart, but I would have given them the boot as well, not because I don't like carols, but because they were rude.

[fortyfeetunder]

16. I'd have to agree too.

If it had been pre-arranged and they were given the boot, then I would think that was a dumb move. It's like an uninvited guest, no matter how well-intended.

:sarcasm: next thing you know the marching bands would have trampled through the store :sarcasm:

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. I agree

They should have called and scheduled it first.

[progdonkey]

21. Yeah, it sucks but I'd also side with Wal-Mart here, too...

not even with the issue of fire codes, etc., but if the store allows Christmas carolers to just waltz in off the street and start singing, what right do they have stopping other people from doing the same at other times of the year?

Whether they're singing Christmas carols or playing a couple folk tunes on the guitar in June, if they haven't made an appointment to perform and they're not shoppers, it's little more than loitering.

[LostinVA]

22. Yup, I managed a big box bookstore for a few years, and we

would have done the same thing, mainly because of insurance purpose. Also, you usually need to have some preps for something like that. And, the fire hazard thing is very apt: a group that size can block aisles, etc., especially only about a week before Christmas, when the store is full. I also suspect this is against company protocol/regulations, because of the above reasons, along with making sure it was a legit group.

OMG... I hate siding with them.....

[roody]

18. You would be cranky too

if you worked for Walmart. Please do not buy there!! There are 100 good reasons to boycott WM.

[booksenkatz]

19. The aisles are cluttered... they're fire hazards every single day

You can't move freely in a Wal-Mart any time of year, I can only imagine how much worse it is in December.

Bet those 30 students wouldn't have been deemed "fire hazards" if they had been instead 30 paying customers.

[Straight Shooter]

20. Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

Bet those 30 students wouldn't have been deemed "fire hazards" if they had been instead 30 paying customers.

[LostinVA]

23. If they were 30 shoppers they wouldn't be in a huge group

Indeed blocking aisles and creating a very real safety hazard. The Evil Empire's manager made the correct call for several reasons. Hey, a stopped clock is right twice a day.

[Straight Shooter]

24. You mean like the huge groups crowded at the checkout counters? n/t

[LostinVA]

25. Not the same thing at all, but you know that.

Look, Wal-Mart sucks, but the manager actually did the best thing for his store and customers.Not every single person who works at Wal-Mart is evil and wants to do evil things. The guy made the best decision for his STORE and his CUSTOMERS.

[Straight Shooter]

26. Okay, then, what about mobs stampeding DVDs on special?

Wal-Mart doesn't do one damn thing about large groups congregating.

You're entitled to your opinion that the manager did the right thing, but it sure didn't seem to bother the other stores that 30 people would want to congregate and cheer up the shoppers. Couldn't he have requested that 15 of them stand aside and let 15 sing? All sorts of solutions rather than booting out the entire choir.

In fact, this whole thread has got me to thinking that I'm glad I don't shop at Wal-Mart, because I'm hard-pressed to imagine how anyone would escape the panic that would ensue with those crowded checkout lines and the narrow aisles.