Wal*Mart infection-spread timelapse video

Here's a short video mapping in time-lapse the spread of Wal*Mart stores in America, from a few lonely dots in the sixties to a rising torrent that ends with an America blanketed by the blight. Link

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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xopl

Cupcake, the West is much less densely populated than the East. Fewer people, fewer Walmarts.
starbrat

Walmart will soon be taking over the world. The author should have wrote about how walmart treats its employees. They are the worst company to work for, and they don’t even follow their own rules. Sam should be rolling in his grave by now.
stykboy4009

Why does the media and the union target Wal mart like they are doing something like breaking the law when we live in a free market economy and they are playing the game like everyone else. the Media and unions just want a bite of the Wal mart cash pie and to make everyone like in a communist state run by them.
Ravajer

I used to work for Wal Mart and they do treat their employees like crap. They are all about that mighty dollar. They pretend to help the community but when they do it is the employees that are helping not the company in general. The employees have to volunteer their time without any compensation. On pay raises and promotions it depends on who you know not your qualification. I would not encourage anyone to work for this company unless you want to be treated like a peon.
Takuan

70% of salary management from hourly employees seems to me to be a ploy to classify people as “management” to exempt them from unionization efforts.

It is quite possibly true that many complaints do come from people that would complain anywhere, but that doesn’t mean the silent majority of the rest aren’t being taken advantage of.

The plain fact is that WalMart’s image re: staff relations is not good at all. Where there’s smoke…
Takuan

@1

quite. “Murrain” is more correct.

How does one build a meme-killer? This pestilence must be stopped sooner or later.
boomfiziks

Cupcake, XOPL is correct. When you consider the population of just one CITY in Ohio – Cleveland, OH is 478,403 (in 2000) and the population of the ENTIRE state of N. Dakota is about 642,200 (in 2000). You can see there is a real difference in population density between west/mid-west vs. the eastern US. Also, if you look at the map close to CA and western shorelines, you can see the Wal-Mart density increases again.

Something along the same lines that was kind of funny. A few years ago, I went out to Iowa with a friend to assist some of his family with their farming. They wanted to take us to a new restaurant that just opened up and was the first in the state. Everyone in Iowa was just buzzing about this new restaurant. The name of it was “Bob Evans”. We just laughed and told them that restaurant has been around for about 20-30 years in Ohio.
cliffiii

I am a walmart slave and they raise production about every 9 months and write you up for the sillies of things. They cheat their slaves of pay by having them clock in and out at their work areas and walk up to a half mile to the breakroom for their short breaks. We have no heat or aircon in the warehouse and it is a terrible place to work I couldn’t suggest it to my worst enemy much less a friend. We have lost 4 bosses to sexual harassment charges and one other committed suicide. Our quota is 200 cases per hour of freight up to 200 lbs. I feel I know how the pyrimids were built!!!
Takuan

further (your example) truth is complex

http://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm
Antinous

What I find very interesting is that the WalMart apologists in this thread are all first timers with no other posts.

And 50 posts later, still true. Good call, EDT! No wonder WalMart can’t pay its employees well. It spends too much money on paid trolls.
Takuan

well, there’s you’re ticket out: “I WAS A WALMART LOVE SLAVE” , a torrid page turner telling the tale of a muscled young warehouse worker and his forbidden passion with the sultry manageress-overseer!

Write it. It’ll sell. Could even be true
Brother Provisional

I like the part where the tumor metastasizes. It indulges my lifelong juvenile fascination with grossness, like when I wrote a report on the bubonic plague in sixth grade.
Enochrewt

@CLIFFIII: For Bob’s sake man, QUIT! You can get a full time (car driving) paper route for what they pay at Walmart. The only way that Walmart will collapse is if people quit working and shopping there. Trying to force them into giving you better benefits and pay only prolongs their reign of terror.
furthur

I was looking out for lights going out. Didn’t see any. Hasn’t a WalMart ever closed down? Hope so.
str

Perhaps just good old ,western, rugged individualism?

what an idiot !
larry2072

It’s always interesting to hear people talk about wal-mart. We still live under capitilism don’t we? The root problem here is jealousy. Wal-mart is so extremely successfull it makes people angry and jealous. Biggest company and the biggest employer. there are always a certain percentage of employees that are cry babies. and It is obvious that it is possible to also have bad seeds in management. I am an hourly employee at wal-mart. My health care is good and I get treated great. we live in a extremely blessed country to be able to have a job and support our families. Most are discontent with what they make. because of covetesness. even Jesus said be content with your wage. You know that one 85% of the people call Lord. I am thankfull I can go accross town and shop for 20% less then on this side of town. and thats not counting an employee discount.
WCH415

I think perhaps how Wal-Mart treats its employees is based more on the individual store. I work in the photo center at one and I have had no problems. I get the hours I want, I’ve got both of my raises on time, they even work around my music gigs that come up suddenly. I used to work for Kroger’s and Wal-Mart is head and shoulders above them in terms of employee treatment…from my experience.
Surrealestateagent

Well, when you think of each of these points of light as a cash drain to China then, perhaps, “blight” is indeed the wrong word.

It’s not strong enough!

There was a time when Sam Walton proclaimed that his stores only carried American made products. Walk through Walmart today, look at the labels of their thousands of products and try to find five that are made in the USA.

Shameful…
noen

“Most are playing the victom [sic] card”

Citation needed.
Takuan

I am a virgin. Never purchased anything from Walmart, ever. Not.Once.

Trust me, if I can do it,so can you.
EdT.

What I find very interesting is that the WalMart apologists in this thread are all first timers with no other posts. Almost as if they were hired by WalMart to surf the web to find negative stories (and what other kind is there about WalMart), create an account on that site and then try to neutralize the topic (or at least inject enough noise to confuse the issue).

Has WalMart started a net disinformation campaign?

And in the off chance you aren’t WalMart shills, it’s big corporations and other box stores that’s the issue. We don’t have to worry about robots taking over the future, we should be worried about SkyNet, Inc. though…
Takuan

hee! google images “walmart love slave”: first hit:
http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/1/13254/31_2007/walkmart.jpg
cliffiii

I don’t find the way walmart employees to be funny or the point of capitalizm to be relevant. We are talking about a huge abusive company that moves into small communities like mine and destroys small business and takes advantage of it’s personel who have no recourse.
Takuan,
Yes, I am writing a book. It is about my disabled son who has escaped death more than once and I am sure walmart will carry it at a discount once published…lol
Their is not love at walmart only sexual abuse for women and termination for any who refuse or report their boss. I have seen more than a half dozen women terminated for small infractions after reporting their boss and no one has the money to hire an attorney capable of defeating their legions of attornies or matching their deep pockets.
Larry2072,
Are you still being bosom fed by your mother??? Do you have a job? I think not. Walmart is hiring people just like you.
Yes, I am trying to get another job and trying to move to a town with jobs. Walmart dried up this town and were just waiting for it to be pronounced dead to start covering it with dirt.
Any of you who support walmart are welcome to your opinion, but I suggest you go to a small dying town like mine before you pass judgement on people who don’t have limitless bank accounts to move and have a full resume posted with their harvard degree highlighted.
Some of us are just people, living check to check hoping the lights are still on when they get home.
I am a single father with four children to raise by myself two have serious disabilities. Don’t shed a tear for me I am quiet capable of taking care of my own life here.
God Bless thoes who share my views, and heaven help thoes who think walmart is good business.
Takuan

Dear EDT

they don’t need to. They may have, but they don’t need to. There are plenty of people getting screwed by working for them that find it easier to excuse their abuser than admit they made a bad mistake.
TheFool

http://blog.kiwitobes.com.nyud.net/
Takuan

good luck Cliff, it sounds like you’ve got more guts than me
shawnnysnana

i also work for walmart and ive been there 4 yrs and the management where i work are all nothing but liers and hippocrates. they will lie straight to your face then tell you and others they never said that when job openings come up they post them all right but it doesnt matter who put in for them they all ready have the person for the job they just have to go throught all the formalities to make it look good they are cheaters and liers where i work. i need my job thats why i have to stay there but if and when a beter one comes along i wil be outa there in a heart beat
TheFool

Wal-Mart and the other big retail chains do not play in the same free market “game” as small business. They get special concessions and tax breaks from towns and states to attract them. They get to play tax games by dividing ownership of their assets among subsidiary companies. They get to take advantage of their near-monopoly position in many communities to pressure suppliers into special deals. And they are able to use their national scope to force out competing business in individual communities and become a local monopoly.

And of course, they have various tricks to reduce the “expenses” that their employees present.

But if you really don’t like stores similar to Wal-Mart and think that they’re destructive to your community, the only way to stop them is to get involved in your local planning and government. Looking down your nose at Wal-Mart on the Internet doesn’t really help.
Takuan

OMG,guess who moonlights in the “special clothing”
section???
http://www.peteykins.com/sparklepics2/DaddyDickCheney.jpg
JOHN

GT LF!!!!!!!! Y KNW WHT TH HRS, PY ND BNFTS WR BFR Y CCPTD TH JB. F Y DN’T LK T….QT. T LST QT BLLY CHNG BT HW TH MPLYS R BNG BSD!
nprnncbl

@47: It sounds like he’s talking about Canadians.
Takuan

there-there John, we understand how you feel. Cheer up, MallWart is not forever and one day you too will have a living wage – somewhere.
onevoice

I was in Sacramento, CA when Walmart opened there. People protested and picketed it for two years. Albertsons and other groceries wanted them gone because they don’t force employees to join the Retail Clerks Union. The employees weren’t complaining though.

And everyone complains about all the merchandise made in China, at Walmart, at Lowe’s … well, go to any retailer and see where the lamps, lawnchairs, clothes, shoes, electronics, etc are made. I don’t blame the Walmart and Lowe’s, I blame the companies that sold out to Japan and China and laid off their employees. Does anyone remember when the top TV brands were Curtis Mathis, RCA, Motorola?
Takuan

did they sell out or did they go broke trying to compete?
Takuan

hmmm, NOW says:

“The National Organization for Women, its Board of Directors, and its members have received numerous complaints regarding workplace environment and employment practices at Wal-Mart stores, distribution centers, regional and corporate offices. We have considered the extensive public record on cases filed against Wal-Mart and found the allegations disturbing. They are sex discrimination in pay, promotion, and compensation, wage abuse, exclusion of contraceptive coverage in insurance plans, violations of child labor laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Cases have also been filed regarding firing pro-union workers, eliminating jobs once workers joined unions, and discouraging workers from unionizing.

Consistent with the goals of NOW’s Women Friendly Workplace Campaign, NOW names Wal-Mart a Merchant of Shame. Wal-Mart’s dismal record contradicts the worker-friendly image it projects to the public. Join NOW in its campaign to demand changes in Wal-Mart’s unfair practices. “
noen

No larry2072 we don’t live under capitalism. We live in (hopefully) a democracy. Capitalism does not equal Democracy. Nor does WallMart play by the same rules as everyone else. What we have here is Socialism for the rich and for corporations and capitalism for everyone else.

Takuan, that’s Princess Sparkle Pony’s work. He’s fairly well known. Go to the root of that link and you can get to several places including a gallery, the blog is here.
http://sparklepony.blogspot.com/
MrScience

I like this comparison map of Wal-mart vs. Starbucks…

http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~cook/movabletype/archives/2008/03/starbuckswalmar.html
larry2072

Okay did you see the map? n gy jst rntd nd rvd bt hw mch cntrl wl mrt hs n th bsnss wrld. d w rlly thnk thy cr bt bnch f cry bbs n th wb? cm n! Wal mart worked there way to where they are and because there a giant retailer than they can control a lot of stuff. They have earned that position. Of course there are a lot of cry babies! but it will not cThy hv rnd tht pstn. f crs thr r lt f cry bbs! bt t wll nt chng nythng. ll knw s tht f hv mngr tht s rd nd trts m nfrly, m nt s gnrnt s t strtyp th ntr cmpny. Grw p. Nd ths flks tht sy “h hv nvr shppd thr. k s y wld rthr py 20% mr smwhr ls. fn t’s mrc, Bt yr wstng mny tht cld g t gd s. yr prgtv.
angel32811

As a former slave on the Wal-Mart plantation, I have to agree with the Wal-Mart nay sayers. I was a hard worker and gave almost 6 years of my life to that company. My store was the worst in the district so we never got bonuses. I was there from the time the store opened and stood by and watched in horror and disgust as employees in stores that opened one, two, even three years after ours got bonuses the first year. Raises were a joke. I’m telling you our store was so bad that other stores in the district wouldn’t even take transfers from our store. Systems were installed to take money from you as they deleted different job codes. I worked in the accounting office in my store. A system was implemented to get rid of the people in the office. We were given a choice to work a certain amount of days in the office and still work out on the floor for a lower amount of pay: In essence, do two people’s jobs for less than what you were being paid to do one person’s job. I am not saying that a union would be much better, but at least maybe the big corporate head honchos would not get away with screwing the little man on the totem pole without benefit of a kiss or vaseline. At least then they wouldn’t be able to get away with crap like making one person work about 5 different departments or working on Sundays without getting time and a half instead of the crappy one dollar extra they give you now (if they haven’t done away with that too). In closing what I’m saying to all the people who are either riding on Wal-Mart’s big you-know-what or calling people who have lived the crappy Wal-Mart way for a number of years and are going to be forced to do that until they retire with nothing to show for it,a bunch of whiny crybabies is: Do not judge a man (or woman) until you have walked a mile in their blue Wal-Mart apron……Or what ever stupid assed uniform they have these days.
Takuan

why thanks Noen!

re: WalMart and the NAACP
http://www.blackcommentator.com/83/83_wal_mart.html
Takuan

but surely they support their gay and lesbian customers?

http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/walmart.asp
larry2072

Noen democracy means freedom to me. we have the freedom to start a buisness and watch it grow. we also have the freedom to complain when the next guys buisness is growing faster. democracy creats capiitolism wich in turn creates an atmosphere to compete.Tthere are just a lot of sore loosers.
Takuan

hey,does eating your own count as “looking after”?

http://greensboro.injuryboard.com/car-accidents/walmart-sues-disabled-women-to-recoup-medical-benefits.php?googleid=15866
Takuan

free-dumb

more detail

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2007/11/6273_walmart_sues_br.html
Takuan

Dear Larry (2072)

Could you please take a little more care in the composing of your posts? Don’t worry, you will still get your say even if you take more time to do it. I appreciate you may have an emotional stake in this matter – we all worry about making a living.

But what is happening here is your haste is making it look as if you are some kind of plant or sock puppet, a straw man set up to be knocked down to “prove” something. If you are truly sincere, take some time and make your argument. Carefully.

(pleasedon’thitmeTeresa)
Edro20

In the History of the World, Every Empire that has Risen, has fallen, Wal-Mart will be no exception. Nothing can last forever.
Thorzdad

Wow. Larry needs to come up from his Mom’s basement and get some fresh air. The furnace must be leaking a little gas. It’s making him delusional.

So, Larry…at what point in your democracy/capitalism fever dream do the workers and consumers get to criticize the businesses? It seems that you feel everyone should just shut up. Anyone who dares criticize the business practices of the companies is automatically a “sore loser”?

Despite what you seem to believe, capitalism is not carte blanche to do business in any manner one sees fit. Nor is it a free-pass to avoid criticism when your practices begin to negatively affect employees, communities, consumers, etc.
Tom

All these first-time posters with numerics in their names are like an old-time USENet trolling team, where the trolls appear to be taking different sides but are really working together to simply dominate the discussion, drowning out legitimate and authentic commentary.

Hey Takuan: not only have I never bought anything from WalMart, I’ve never even been in one of their stores!
Takuan

Oh, I’ve been in a WalMart. I try not to condemn without first hand knowledge(That explains those “unusual” night clubs and “novelty” stores). I just never bought anything.
Takuan

ah capitalism! it even triumphs under communism!
(China laogai {slave labour camp}article exerpt):

“With his teeth cracked and hands bleeding, Wan Guifu struggled to split one more watermelon seed with his teeth. For him working outside in the freezing cold over 10 hours a day came with little choiceâ€”it was either work to produce Hand-picked Melon Seeds for the labor camp or be beaten until unconscious. At 57 years old Wan worked until he could no longer accomplish this brutal task, and was beaten to death by his fellow inmates at the Lanzhou No. 1 Detention Center in China.

The seeds Wan was forced to produce, Zhenglin Hand-picked Melon Seeds, are now currently exported throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Through the use of this type of slave labor Lanzhou Zhenglin Nongken Foods Ltd. has become the largest producer of roasted nuts in China with sales reaching 460 million Yuan. (US $55 million”

hey, ya think WarmFart sells “Zhenglin Hand-Picked Melon seeds”????
Tenn

I honestly hate that I shop at Wal*Mart. However, I’m one of those low-income people that don’t have a choice. Dollars make a difference to me; if there was another store within reasonable biking distance (there isn’t) that provided the goods I can get at Wal*Mart for the same price or even just a small difference in price, I would shop at it.

Wal*Mart means I get my cheap goods, but when it goes down, a lot of people are going with it. Thankfully I may be out of college by then, or at least have a job. Right now with AP exams it’s not possible.

And I’m not even a single mother with multiple kids. Other stores in my town are unbelievably expensive, though. What on Earth is the solution to this? Is there even one?
Antinous

Oh, I’ve been in a WalMart.

Please just tell me that it wasn’t in Lhasa.
Antinous

What on Earth is the solution to this?

Don’t buy stuff. Look for freebies on craigslist. Put a notice on the church bulletin board saying that you’re a starving student and you need x,y and z. Once you get away from the world of drama and trauma and headline news, most Americans are incredibly charitable. One of my very poor fellow yoga teacher’s car blew up. One of his students heard about it and gave him a down payment for a good used car. When I moved from a two bedroom house to a one bedroom condo, I gave away everything from furniture to tools to art supplies. There’s plenty of stuff just waiting for a new home. Just ask.
Takuan

Tenn; don’t worry about such things. Your instincts will guide you and we all trim our sails to our circumstances. You aren’t running around doing willful evil for fun, just as many others have financial reality to deal with too. No, there is no “solution” – just life.

Lhasa….. I suppose all China is one vast WalMart – with armed supervisors.
Tenn

Antinous;
I’m Buddhist. I do not attend church except when forced to. I have to eat; can’t go to craigslist for that. I have to buy my school supplies and clothing somewhere- and I do use Goodwill and Thrift Town, but you can’t always find your size. Also, while it feels very excuse-making (there’s a word for that but I can’t think it! AP mock english burnt my brain), I try not to accept charity unless it’s just stuff someone doesn’t want.

I do need to hit up Craigslist more often, though.

Takuan;
Ayeaye, captain!

China is one vast Wal*Mart? No way. China is one vast perfume aisle in the department store – with armed supervisors. Buy this at this exorbitant price and please please ignore the fact that we tested it on animals. (Or people.)
larry2072

Dear TAKUAN,
It is reall irrelevant if I am the best typist, and the best speller. But if it makes you feel better, I will try harder.
I don’t defend Wal-Mart on everything. There is a lot of things they do that I do not agree with. Some arguments against the retail giant are understandable.

What I see usually is this whole “I’m a victim” psychology going on. And It’s usually people who have something against success, power, and influence. And I believe that most of the time it is fueled by jealousy. That’s just the way I see it.
Antinous

I try not to accept charity unless it’s just stuff someone doesn’t want.

That’s crack talk. Wouldn’t you give stuff away if you had it and somebody needed it? Why don’t you treat yourself as well as them? And I didn’t say go to church. That’s really crack talk. Just put up a notice. People have closets and garages full of stuff to get rid of. People like giving stuff away, especially to tender young things like yourself. Why deny them the pleasure of feeling generous. If you’re going to be a Buddhist, you have to embrace the bowl.
croc_choda

“blight”?

come now.
Cupcake Faerie

What does this say about the western half of the U.S., as there is a decidedly major preponderance of wallmarts on the eastern half of the U.S.? Perhaps just good old ,western, rugged individualism?
Takuan

Have to agree there. I give freely when I can and take without qualm when I must. Took some learning.
If it helps: we none of us live forever.
Tenn

I suppose it’s not all that right, is it? I guess it’s my grandfather’s influence. Always been taught to make it on your own, by any means necessary.

I should try simply asking more and getting over my pride. Ha! I like the idea of me as a tender young thing. I’ve got years yet until I’m an old battleax!

My Western fashion sense is so atrophied that I would not be bothered in the least by wearing that headdress. Maybe I should defect to Japanese Buddhism.

Will not post at church, though. That feels too… I don’t know. Inconsistent? I’m too irreverent (another thing I need to abandon) to ask support from adherents of a faith I sometimes mock.
Takuan

Better. Trust me, I’ll not pick on you for spelling or grammar. What I want to know are your ideas.

Regarding the “victim” psychology; do you agree that it is possible for corporations to victimize their work-force?
fltndboat

Big brains and global awareness are wonderful possessions, but most people still live locally. I spent several years in a small town in southwest Colorado that got a Walleyworld super store. The town had one locally owned supermarket and a local hardware /general store. The town is handy for a reasonable number of people who live on reservations. From the day walley opened the doors the local business lost every penny of reservation money. Years of insulting and demeaning treatment at the hands of the locals while shopping was replaced by acceptance and respect. A large percent of employees were of native blood. Today, with reservation life increasingly private , a tourist looking for contact with a native is better off in Walleyes’es coffee shop. This is a local story. Each store has it’s own. The one sure thing is that if there was a better alternative present to serve local markets WalMart wouldn’t make a dime.
Takuan

“If you’re going to be a Buddhist, you have to embrace the bowl.”

that could also be interpreted to refer to some of the more bibulous priests I’ve met who do end the night “embracing the bowl”. Always liked that about Japan.
Takuan

Careful there Tenn, good old fashioned, stiff necked prickly self-reliance is also a valuable tool. Use what is appropriate for the situation. Sometimes you will indeed be alone.
larry2072

Thorzad

Argue with the map dude. Your opinion is that they do buisness as they see fit. Does that mean that some how they are breaking the law or something. Like they have cheated their way to the top. Should all golfers boycott Golf because Tiger is playing. Wal-Mart competes in the market place and is successfull. So be it.

Wal-Mart is not above the law. They loose sometimes too.
Tenn

My Zen Buddhist teacher also embraced the bowl. He’s given that and cigarettes up, though. Last time he relapsed was after being forced to deal with children.

I know this, because the entire class knew it, because he sometimes smelled of the bowl. Hasn’t since he said he quit (except the elementary school day.)
Takuan

ah! found it! ahem:

“If you trust in yourself and believe in your dreams, and follow your star;

you’ll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and who aren’t so lazy.”

- Terry Pratchett, “A Hat Full of Sky”

It is truly, truly an indecently shameless pleasure to preach at the young… I’ve probably incurred at least three more lifetimes for this nights work.
Antinous

Buddhism is about being as much a part of ‘all that is’ as possible. Flowing with life means giving and receiving. Sometimes you might have a whole lifetime of one or the other. Most people find giving much easier than receiving. Learning to receive is one of the great leaps into true selflessness.
Tenn

Takuan;
In a similar vein; “The first thing I’ll teach you before ever going into the Periodic table is this- the idea that you can do anything you want is a lie. I’m never going to be a center, -points at me- you’re never going to be a linebacker. This accounts for intellectual jobs, too. Get used to it. Also get used to the fact that you may spend fifty percent of your time failing my class.” – Chem teacher, paraphrased.

Antinous;
I’ll take what you said to heart as best I may, and try to improve on it. Every day. (Sorry, the rhyme was too tempting.)
larry2072

It is possible but I really do not see Wal-Mart doing that.
I used to work at a factory that hired a lot of illegal immigrants. And I saw a lot that was unfair, because they new that they could get away with it.

Dude I work at Wal-mart 70% of salary managment has come from hourly employees. If they were being “victomized” Why are so many being promoted. What I see “while working there” is that the ones with the most complaints are usually poor workers, lazy americans that want everything handed to them. Like the government and there employers owe them the world. mindsets that stem from covetesness and jealousy. I know there are those that have legitamate complaints but Most are playing the victom card. Like I spilled my coffe and it was hot so I am going to sue
Takuan

I barely,barely passed chemistry.
Tenn

Takuan;
I passed first year Chemistry, but I’m going to fail this year’s. It’s first year college Chemistry and credit relies on the AP exam in a month. Ugh. I like it, though.