Many college students do it. But the thought of shopping at Wal-Mart sends a jolt of guilt to the pit of my stomach.

It’s not the people there who upset me, or the unbelievably low prices. But when I walk through those automatic doors and into the bright, white lights, I see concentrated evil.

I feel this way because I know the effects that large corporations — like Wal-Mart — can have on neighborhood businesses and economies.

CRYSTAL VILLARREAL

I grew up in California, in a neighborhood without a Wal-Mart. My mother and I walked to the neighborhood toy store, the candy store, the local grocery. Store owners knew our names, our stories.

They cared about what was going on in our community.

But one day our neighbors started worrying that our way of life could change, and there they stood shouting in unison that Wal-Mart destroys communities.

They shouted that a Wal-Mart moving in literally would destroy a way of life.

The toy store, candy store and grocery would shut down, crushed under the customer lure of Wal-Mart’s unbeatably low prices.

Now, I don’t knock those who shop at Wal-Mart. Its goods are affordable, and they’re all in one place. The lower your income, the more attractive those prices are.

But it’s time for American consumers — you, me and a whole bunch of other people — to take strong, direct steps against huge, unfeeling corporations with such major impact on what we buy, where it’s produced and how much we pay.

Profit-driven corporations including Wal-Mart are sending jobs overseas to take advantage of low wages paid in less-developed countries.

Many corporations are firing American workers to cut production costs. They then charge American consumers more money than what it took to produce their products.

Corporations flood the U.S. market with relatively inexpensive products, and have destroyed the local retail business structure in many towns across America.

Why should we let such distant and cold corporate monsters set the styles for things such as the clothing we wear, movies we watch and music we listen to?

I think we consumers should make our purchasing decisions based on how corporations treat their employees.

In our current economic situation Wal-Mart pays low wages, and structures its work week so that employees are counted as part-time and don’t qualify for health care and other benefits.

The New York Times reported that in Wal-Mart stores men are paid more than women in most job categories and in nearly every region.

And some female employees have sued the company on the grounds of unequal wages.

I am proud of these women for taking a stand against Wal-Mart, and they deserve our support. We do have a say in how corporations conduct their business at home and overseas.

Think before you buy. Because what you buy and where can have costly effects for the rest of us.

— Crystal Villarreal is a senior from Lawrenceville majoring in magazines and women’s studies