Walmart in a Small Town

Lots of people make fun of Walmart and the people that shop there. There's even a whole website about the People of Walmart.

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ 

But...Hello! We live in a small town and you just can't beat Walmart's prices so I imagine that even those who hate Walmart find themselves shopping there, at least occasionally. Besides, where else can you buy wine, water softener salt, ice, and Velcro all in the same place? Anyway, I ran into Walmart the other night for what I hoped would be a quick trip. Is that really possible? A quick trip to Walmart? I wasn't feeling great (had bronchitis again), had worked all day, and I just wanted to get in and out fast. But here's what really happened...

First, I ran into an acquaintance from church. We spent a very pleasant 20 minutes or so chatting near the milk aisle about kids, weddings, jobs, etc. A couple that we both know, also from church, stopped by for a minute or two, but they wisely moved on somewhat quickly. Finally, my friend and I decided we'd better make some progress so we went our separate ways. I passed a man who was talking on his phone. The person on the other end was evidently instructing him to buy fresh strawberries and he was complaining that he was going to have to drive all over the place to get the stuff he needed. Poor baby. Next aisle over I actually spotted fresh strawberries. I was tempted to hunt him down and show them to him but he didn't deserve it since he was such a wanker so I kept going.

I proceeded to the greeting card department.

I bumped into another friend who had been in the "Young Adult Group" that met at my house for years. He was with his fiancee and they were buying tires and discovering how expensive it was to support themselves. We only had a short conversation, however, because my dad called to check on me. Besides, I really wanted to get home. I had no water softener salt or Velcro yet but someone had put Frito's and Cheetos into my cart. Back to the cards. Do you realize how expensive cards are these days? They were $3.00 at the least but most were more. I spent quite a bit of time picking out a number of them. Another woman was nearby doing the same thing. Eventually, I had about five cards in my hand but realized that they were going to cost me more than $20.00. I started putting my cards back. Ironically, the neighboring woman began to do the same thing. We instantly bonded over the high cost of expressing affection through the written word and for the next 15 minutes, she told me how she was getting married for the 3rd time (optimistic), couldn't find anything to wear for the wedding (I recommended Dress Barn), her mother was advocating just living together (not so optimistic), and how good her fiance was to her. While I found it somewhat odd that this stranger was telling me her life story, I was also beginning to slow down and give up my dream of a "quick" Walmart trip. After all, I had nothing to rush home to except NCIS. We finally parted ways, agreeing that we would buy our cards at the Dollar Store and I genuinely wished her an enjoyable wedding as I headed towards Fabric. 

As I turned a corner a man bolted out of the Sporting Goods aisle carrying a basket designed to be hooked onto the front of a bike. 

"Can you believe this?", he said to me. "$24.00 for this bike basket!"

"Terrible!", I agreed. 

Who was this guy? Later, in the check out line, I saw him again. He was buying the whole bike which was going to cost him considerably more than $24.00. Oh well, to each their own. By that time I had retrieved my Velcro, salt, ice, etc. and was finally, definitely, hurriedly, looking forward to home. Of course, there were only three check stands open, each with at least twelve people waiting in line. I considered my choices - there was the line that had a young woman with not one but two carts, both loaded to the gills. Pass. There was the line with the bicycle man in it and he had been joined by a woman who had a dog in her cart (I am not making this up). Pass. I chose the last line and patiently waited a fairly long time but honestly, by then, I was actually enjoying watching everything going on around me. My checker told me my total and she very generously had neglected to charge me for the water softener salt or the ice. Sweet of her but I couldn't accept her gift. She redid my total and I was free! I practically ran out the door to my car. I had a premium parking space close to the store, right next to a handicap spot.

The woman with the car in the handicap slot had just finished loading her things when I arrived. 

"Do you mind if I look inside your car?", she asked me. 

Seriously? Was this trip for real? 

"Ummm, ". 

"I don't have to get in. I just want to look in the windows." 

Eventually, she explained that she owned a Honda (same as me) but she didn't like it. Her husband had Parkinson's, the car was too small, mine was larger and she wondered how I felt about mine. I found myself telling her how the front seat was uncomfortable, I couldn't see out the windows to back up (not the car's fault - it's a short person problem), and how my dad had so graciously GIVEN me the car, it had very low mileage, and so I loved it. She decided to go buy a Toyota.

Twenty minutes later I was in my garage. It hadn't been a quick trip to Walmart. But you know, I had a smile on my face. We're all in this together, in various stages of crazy. My dad never met a stranger and he will take the time to talk to anybody! That night at Walmart, I caught a glimpse of why he does that. Maybe I'll try it a little more often.