Reading

The next book club book for the Lib. is The Wal-Mart Effect.... Based on the way the group went after The Tipping Point, it's going to be quite a discussion! Here's a bit I like:

Although Wal-Mart has stayed true to its original core value -- always low prices -- the company has now grown so large, and evolved in so many ways, that it no longer truly understands its own culture clearly or effectively -- or understands how it is perceived by the rest of us. The mascot of the company is the bouncing yellow smiley-faced price chopper. But while the prices at Wal-Mart may make us smile, Wal-Mart itself almost never does. This, too is part of the Wal-Mart effect. . . . (p. 13)

And another:

(In general, when a Wal-Mart can't keep the letters in its lit, the store is a mess.)

(p. 17)

Now that is a good tip -- and easy to check up on.

Oh, dear, knowing that some of our folks take exception to everything in every book, I better start researching that one if I plan to used it in discussion!