In the past 16 days, I have been to Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, Queretaro, Manzanillo, Metapec, Toluca twice, and Mexico City twice. It's not glamorous. But it's often interesting. And sometimes, it's deeply disturbing.

I have been in real estate since 1993, and I have seen a lot. All sorts of unusual buildings, odd configurations, and inexplicable architecture, land use, and urban planning. But never in my life until today have I seen a beachfront WalMart. That's what I saw this morning in Manzanillo, Mexico. It was more of a shock to the system than the two Starbucks across the street from each other (Houston), or the three Oxxo convenience stores at one intersection in Queretaro, Mexico (I am not kidding, there were Oxxo's on three of the four corners of one intersection).

This WalMart in Manzanillo practically has to be seen to be believed. It was on a beautiful beach, soft clean sand, spectacular waves crashing, with the WalMart loading dock and employee parking right on the beachfront, steps from the water. Of course, there were no windows on the ocean-facing side of the WalMart; the stunning view would have been too distracting in a cathedral of commerce.

As our Mexican partner helpfully pointed out, "Who says that WalMart treats their employees poorly?! They can go swimming or surfing in the ocean or sunbathe on the beach, during their lunch hour!"

Shame, shame, shame.