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This is a letter to the editor from the Lancaster, PA Sunday News on May 1, 2005:


I’m tired of people bashing Wal-Mart! I can’t speak for the chain as a whole, but the Ephrata Wal-Mart has been a great store for the Ephrata area and for our son, especially.
Our 19-year-old, learning-disabled son lost his part-time job when the Akron Restaurant closed, just after he graduated from high school. For six long months, we helped him look for a job, but nobody would give him a chance; only one business interviewed him.
Small family-run businesses are wonderful places at which to shop or work, but they can only hire a small number of physically and mentally challenged individuals. Wal-Mart is different. It is larger and its philosophy has been one of community involvement.
Wal-Mart called our son the day after he applied for a food-service job, interviewed him, and hired him within a month at a rate more than $2 over minimum wage for a full-time position with benefits. He received a raise in three months time.
The job was a great fit for our son. Though he took longer to train, he did better than even we expected because he was given a chance in a job he really likes. The managers have been extremely helpful in trying to accommodate his disability, and he is now able to contribute to society as a wage-earning young adult.
Maybe the reason Wal-Mart’s pay scale is lower than the national average is because it is willing to hire people who would either be unemployed or earning only minimum wage for the rest of their lives at a subsidized rehabilitation center.
Our family says thank you to Wal-Mart for being willing to risk hiring individuals who may not seem to be able to offer “normal” productivity. Maybe “normal” is overrated.

Susan C. Jones – Akron, PA