Oh, mama. Can it get any worse than this? The buzz in the community where I live is that a Super Wal-Mart is coming. Super.

The Akron Beacon Journal mentioned this last week — although admitting it is still in the rumor stage. But it is likely. I live in a suburb of Akron, Copley. And Copley is adjacent to Montrose — which is basically these days a parking lot of cars inching toward either Akron or Medina. When we moved here 15 some years ago, this was a scenic rural community. So it goes. Long gone are the small businesses that add character to a community.

But the public relations point is this. Why does Wal-Mart have such a bad reputation? Very few of us really embrace change. Yet in my ethics class at Kent State, I ask students early in the semester what company they consider to be unethical. Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart. Not even a close second. And this “reputation” makes it very difficult for the locals to get enthusiastic about a Super Wal-Mart down the street, in what was previously a pristine environment. Better we would get a Super Starbucks. Just kidding.

So who knows what will happen. A Wal-Mart spokesman says the company has not bought any property as yet. But the Beacon Journal indicated that property could be acquired by third parties.

Alert the poets.