Christmas Controversy
Posted on November 11, 2005 by webteam
The latest controversy involving Wal-Mart has given us this little gem that we’ve preserved in posterity. Meet the latest addition to the lineup of “Down & Out in Bentonville.”
Kirby
STATUS: OUT
DATE: 11/11/05
POSITION: Customer Service
The most talked about Wal-Mart employee to get the boot this holiday season
is only known to the public by his first name, Kirby. Kirby nearly
touched off a boycott by the Catholic League when he wrote back a truly
bizarre response to a customer’s complaint about Wal-Mart’s unfair
treatment of Christmas on the store’s website.
“Walmart
is a world wide organization and must remain conscious of
this. The majority of the world still has different practices
other than ‘christmas’ which is an ancient tradition that has its roots
in Siberian shamanism. The colors associated with ‘christmas’
red and white are actually a representation of of the aminita mascera
mushroom. Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses, mistletoe
from the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoth and
the tree from the worship of Baal. It is a wide wide world.”
It is a wide world indeed, but not wide enough for Kirby’s shamanistic missives to customers. Wal-Mart promptly fired Kirby
and issued a series of apologies and changes to the company’s website
to quell the controversy. We’re not sure exactly what Kirby looks
like, but based on his writings and his familiarity with the Goths of
the Late Roman Empire, we think he might look something like the
smiling fellow above.
Click here to read the rest of Down & Out in Bentonville.
