Suddenly *Not So* Single Journey

My version of People of Wal-Mart…

Author: thenicknick

Um…yeah.  I have seen it.  It makes me laugh.  People of Wal-Mart.  Yup.  I don’t know why these people left the house looking like this, but I’m glad they did.

At the same time, experiencing people in Wal-Mart, not always so good.

Take, for example, if you are in the middle…or early beginnings of a project and you just want to pay and get on with your day.

So, Saturday morning, we found ourselves in two, yes…2…Wal-marts.  I had found the pool online, but it wasn’t in stock at the first one, the one that was closer to the house.  Instead, we had to drive waaaay out to the Super Wal-Mart.

It was a super big pain.  It was super time consuming.  It was super frustrating.  And that was just the part where we tried to find a parking spot.

Once we managed to get in the store, things weren’t looking much better.  We struggled to find the pool.  And we were starting to get discouraged.  Only…I’m not a man.  I will ask for directions.

Seconds later I put on my friendliest helpless face and one of the employees wandering around the store walked us to the pool…and walked away.  There was no price on the shelf so I found another employee wandering the store.  She had a handy dandy scanner and did the price check.   Woo hoo!

Well, HE wandered off to get a cart.  And she wandered off to get a special cart.  And I stood there and guarded the pool.  It was the only one.  And since it was still available when everyone converged at the pools again, I must have done a REALLY good job.  Or everyone else knew how much work installing a pool was and simply steered clear of the crazy lady.

Potato…potahto…

Well, we loaded the pool on the special cart, grabbed extra filters, and headed toward the line.  I grabbed baggies and the new Snickers Fudge bar before joining him.  I needed the chocolate, mmmkay?

And the line isn’t moving.  It’s the lawn and garden line.  And it isn’t moving.  We talked and planned.  And it still wasn’t moving.

That’s when a man came over and asked if he could get in front of us since he only had one item.  And we looked around.  There were lots of people behind us, all suffering since…the line wasn’t moving.  And HE made…the right decision.

HIM: Sorry.  We all only have a few items.

He gestured to the line of people behind us, all of whom were intensely interested and looked ready to blow…since…the line…not moving so much.

And that’s when the lady in front of us interceded.

Lady (and I’m being generous with that term…): Sir, you can get in front of me.

I took a deep breath and looked away.  Words are my friend.  And I don’t like using them angry, but I was ready to make an exception.  Well, we tried to make sense of the situation as we talked amongst ourselves.

HIM: I didn’t let him in because we all only had a couple of items.  And there’s all these people behind us.

And I see the shackles rising on this woman’s back.  And I know she’s going to turn around and spout off.  And I’m so NOT in the mood for it.  And I’m really trying not to get involved.  And yet…I am.

Lady-ish individual: Sir, the reason I let him in was because I remember when others have done the same for me when I only had one item.

And I get it.  I’ve done that.  Only…when I did it, it was because the only person I was inconveniencing was me.  I didn’t have a line of people behind me.  And I had more than just a couple of items.

HIM: Ma’am, I’ve done it before, too, but we all only have a couple of items.

And she continued.  And the woman behind us became involved.  She didn’t have a cart and her couple of items were heavy, wheras the man who cut was carrying a scan ticket.  She was not pleased.

And I was not planning on spending my Saturday morning in a fight at Wal-mart of all places.  Honestly.  You should need a passport to go in those stores.

Well, the line slowly moved as the tensions rose.  And the woman in front of us just grew more and more smug, especially when the man who cut made a big point of thanking her.  He got off waaaay too easily.

We loaded the pool in the car, started it, and took one look at each other before venting.

me: It took everything in me not to get involved in that.  You know I always have a come back.

HIM: What would you have said?

me: Congratulations, you did your good deed for the day and you managed to irritate everyone else in line.  Now you can go to church tomorrow and feel really good about yourself.  In the meantime, turn around and mind your own business.

I took a deep breath.

me: See why I don’t get involved?

HIM: Why couldn’t I have thought of that?

So we went home and worked on the pool for the rest of the day.  And we worked on the other pool all of the next day.  And I guess if that was the lowest point of our weekend, we’re doing alright.

PS. If you  are one of those chronic cutters, beware.  I might not always keep my comments to myself.  And if you are a chronic cutter, keep in mind that you are opening a can of worms.

PPS. And if you are tired of this angry story and want to read about how I’ve turned into a junkie…visit Wedding Journeys.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 6:56 am and is filed under Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.