Sams Club, Smiths, Or Safeway?

for the poll, simply state which you would rather work at and what meat you would rather purchase(as if it all cost the same, so you are judging on quality and value), then please comment on your reasons why if you feel so inclined
i am also looking for stories from people who have worked at these places (or their regionally named counterpart)
 
now ensues the long story section
 
So, i added the poll for convenience but ive recently (couple moths ago) been laid off from a job in the oil industry, long story short i feel that this layoff has been more of a blessing than anything because i once again have a life, albiet i am broke. as fuck. lol but upon getting laid off i put out a few applications, though i didnt quite frantically hand them out due to a family reunion a couple weeks after the layoff (for which i had scheduled a vacation with my last job) and of the aplications i put out the first one to get back to me and the most willing to work around the reunion was WalMart, they did the hire process including drug test prior to my trip and enabled me to feel comfortable on the trip and realize that i had a job to go back to
 
now the walmart around here pays much better than most walmarts but still at 10.60/hr i am struggling to make ends meet, particularly if my roomate is late on his rent as he was this time (though the late fees he had to pay as a result will likely help a lot in the long run), anyway walmart hired me into their meat dept, they dont cut meat but it paid a bit more than standard cashiering and it opened my eyes to a great oppurtunity, i have since learned that if you make journeyman in meat cutting you can make up to 25/hr in some places, i also have great confidence in the intrinsic value of meat cutting both on a resume and as a life skill (particularly where i dream of running a farm some day) so i have decided that so long as i can afford the slow start that i will try to get a job as a meat cutting apprentice
 
there are a few places around here that cut meat, two local shops, albertsons, smiths, safeway, and sams club, those are all that i know of, of the locals, one is not hiring (though i LOVE their shop, it is my preferred place to shop for meat if i can ever afford to purchase any) and the other i didnt even try to find out if they were i just didnt really like the shop (they work in the basement and direct customers to find them there and their choices of meat dont appeal to me)
of the others
i have decided id prefer not to work at alberstons because of an old very short term relationship with an employee there(just easier to avoid it and its not the only option)
that leaves safeway, sams club and smiths
the walmart i work at is on the opposite end of town and right next to the sams club, so the commute is more costly long term and im not making too much
now if i go to sams club, my employment at walmart may help me get in and i know they pay more than walmart though the commute is exactly the same, requiring me to either take the interstate (that stretch is ok but not in the best of condition) or go through town (which has got a terrible police presence that loves to "fine mine" the public and has harrassed me more in the two years ive lived here than all other police combined in my years of living elsewhere) and as far as benefits go, i do shop at Sam's on occasion because its the only bulk store in the area, so a discount could be useful
then there is safeway, they have a large store near the sams club and walmart and a small almost run down store much closer to me, the one closer to me would likely be a quieter, easier(for lack of a better word) job but i would have to start in deli and wait for an opening in meat(ok with me IF it pays enough for me to live off of) the other side i may be able to move directly into meat but the same downsides on commute and its likely to be more busy and have more of a bustle to it
i dont know if smiths has two shops in town i think just one, which is the closest to me of all the options, i know that smiths is the same corporation as king soopers and i know of a certain king soopers where nearly all of the cashiers are stoned all the time at work and a large amoung of the other employees as well, they only had to do swab tests to get hired and havent had any big issues that i know of with their choice to smoke in the 5 plus years theyve worked there, that being said each one may be different and just because they swab test at that store does not mean that they wouldnt piss test here, i would also have to start elsewhere to get my foot in the door here(seafood)
now here is a quick little internet page i found involving the wages at these places, but i think its reported by employees so again it could be completely different at the store i work at compared to their results, this says that safeway pays the best and that sams club is shit for pay, but again it could be the reverse here
http://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/meat-cutter-salary-SRCH_KO0,11.htm
 
another thing to straighten out before i go to asking the city for experience and advice in this desicion:
I DO NOT NOR DO I PLAN TO EVER SMOKE BEFORE OR BE HIGH DURING A SHIFT ANYWHERE FOR ANY REASON, but i would like to work somewhere that will teach me the trade, pay a decent enough wage to live off of while learning and in the end of the learning stage will pay well - at least 15/hr or more but preferably leaning toward 20/hr or more, but will allow me to live the life i want to outside of work (i.e. if i want to go smoke a bowl or two at the end of my shift on my "friday" i want a place that has a lower risk of testing and firing me two weeks later for the same act (spare the science of how long it stay in your system for this one, this is just an example)
 
all that being said in a lengthy manner, any blades worked at any of these places? which would you recommend for the overall work environment? the pay? the chance of drug testing? and/or the quality of the meat sold at either location?
 
 
 
 

 

thanks for the replies guys, i know the OP was rediculously long, ive got a knack for doing that lol
ive done a bit of talking to employee in both smiths and safeway
ive mostly decided against sams unless they are currently looking for a cutter apprentice because that would get me started immediately but otherwise i think sams is out
so now its more or less between smiths and safeways, so while im waiting for my piss to clear up ill scope out the two and see which one i like better i guess, i think safeway may be better quality meat and will probably pay more, but their lighting is pretty dark, over the course of a couple years do you think that would contribute to depression or would it simply set the stage for a more calm environment?