I checked "Wal-Mart Watch" at http://walmartwatch.com/blog on Friday, after Helen Walton's death. This site is one of the most detailed and tenacious online critiques of the stores Sam and Helen Walton founded.

"She was a wonderful person who instilled some great virtues in her children -- honesty, integrity, community service, hard work. It's like lots of families. She was not the high profile star of the family, but she was the backbone of the family. In general, her life was a textbook example of how people ought to live their public lives."

As of Friday evening, that site's blog entry hadn't drawn a response, adverse or otherwise. The site also posts news clippings about Wal-Mart Stores. The site has suspended its clipping service through Monday, in memorandum.

Her share of the family estate was somewhere in the range of $16 billion -- a smaller share than any of her three surviving children, according to recent estimate by Forbes magazine. A fraction of a percentage of such a sum would have undone many of us. The world is full of expensive vices that Mrs. Walton not only resisted, but showed no trace of being drawn to.

She was the "guiding hand of the Walton Family Foundation" of charities as Gov. Mike Beebe put it. While the late Sam Walton built the fortune -- with the benefit of Mrs. Walton's advice -- she was the member of that couple who steered much of that wealth to philanthropic causes.

Her time, application and good sense apparently helped many of those causes as much or more as her money. She was generous in small ways, too. She gave rides to church to elderly members of the congregation she attended.

They didn't. They built a giant. I don't comment often on the criticisms of their company. There are critics aplenty. If I say something good about the company, I'm dismissed as a Northwestern homeboy. Beyond that, Wal-Mart is a big enterprise. It can defend itself.

Years ago, our family repainted an old iron bedframe for my youngest daughter. We needed caster cups, those round discs with the carpet on the bottom. You put them under furniture footings to avoid scrapes.

I took my daughter to a hardware store. I drove past the local Wal-Mart because I believe in competition. I'm a veteran of two newspaper wars. I know the customer is better served when the competition is on. I don't want Wal-Mart, or anybody else, to conquer the world.

There was one checker at work that Saturday morning. My daughter and I were fourth in line. People added on behind me while the various coupons and tags were taken off each box of the customer fortunate enough to be first. He was down to his last item, a weed whacker.

"You know, we have another one a lot like that on sale," the checker said. "Really?" the customer replied. At least five paying customers and their companions were left standing, merchandise in hand, while the discussion ranged on from the cheaper alternative's torque to length of its power cord.

Customer service is a wonderful thing. Customer service on what you should buy ought to be delivered in the shopping aisles. Customer service at the checkout line consists of, well, getting your merchandise checked out.

I waited a while, then put the $2.50 set of caster cups down on the first rack I could reach. The store didn't care about time, so they could restock my would-be purchase at their leisure. I drove with my daughter to Wal-Mart. There we found the exact same caster cups for 5 cents less. We went to the checkout area, where there were at least a half-dozen checkers with lanes open. We skipped those and chose an automated register. We didn't wait at all.

I didn't go to Wal-Mart to save money. I didn't even go to Wal-Mart to save time. It took longer to go there than it would have taken to wait through the leisurely check-out process at the hardware store.

I went to Wal-Mart because the store Sam and Helen built doesn't waste my time. I consider that a sign of respect. Some would call that efficient fleecing. Whatever. I'd reply that I can't help pay for workers' insurance benefits if I can't get to the cash register.

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