When my wife and I lived in Ponca City, Oklahoma, our next-door neighbours were a Tonkawa native family. In that house was a grandfather, his daughter, and one six-year-old granddaughter.

The daughter worked at Wal*Mart on night shift. My wife and I made it clear if the granddaughter ever needed any help she could come and ask for it day or night, as her grandfather was dying.

One morning at about 2AM he died. The girl came over to ask for help.

We first called the hospice their family was using, then I called the local Wal*Mart to speak to her mother. That store told me I was not permitted to speak to workers during their shift, and I had to call the Bentonville, Ark. office to have them give permission to let her off work to deal with her child and dead father lying in her house.

I called the number in Bentonville they gave me, and their answer was basically, tough shit for her. You’ve got her daughter, you deal with it.

Her mother didn’t find out her father had died until she came home in the morning, while her daughter was a nervous wreck at our house. His body was taken out later that morning.

The Tonkawa Nation invited my wife and I to his traditional native funeral, as we’d stood up for one of their members (the granddaughter) when she needed help.

So, Wal*Mart doesn’t care if one of their worker’s parents literally dies while they are on the job, but I should overlook that because “lower prices” or I am a puritopian. Yeah, naw.