Another after midnight Wal-Mart Adventure....one canNOT make this stuff up,
folks! Sigh...just got home and got everything put away, well, everything 'cept
what I programmed Rick to put up. Oh my good gracious sakes alive! Unbelievably
Unbelievable! Got to Wal-Mart and took my sweet time (as I prefer to do) in my
electric cart. I head right to the cosmetic/medicine section because I had
twice as many food items on my list as 'other necessities' - so I go to grab
them first. But nooooo - they are stripping and waxing that particular section
and it is blocked off. I bet I went a dozen different ways but ea one was
blocked. I finally asked a nice young man what to do - he said, "Oh, it is
our policy to always leave at least one way to enter each area." I just
stared at him. Maybe.Even.GLARED.At.Him. It was just going through a maze.
Eventually, by golly - I found that ONE WAY into each dang area I had to go to
- and there were MANY. I will NOT be denied. I was on a mission to get
everything on my 2 column FULL PAGE typed out list. (This seems so lloonngg
ago, given what else happened....) Try to envision (if you can) after 2 1/2
hours of my mosey-ing (ok, sputtering) around in my cart - slowly filling it up
as I go. I even got my electric cart 'swagger' on, i.e. got my drinks draped
over the bar on the top of the cart, you know - the way people who can walk do
on their 'regular' buggies! And I don't mean just a couple 6 pks, but AllTheWayAroundTheCart
- drinks, juices, and water are hung ever so gingerly. I am proud! Afterall, it
had been almost 3 wks since I made a Wal-Mart trip! As I rounded the corner to
get the last of my list - the refrigerated items - it happened. Three long
sputters and the cart just died. Dead. Ka-put. Would not budge an inch. Except
backwards. Not a customer, let alone an employee to be found ANYWHERE. So, I
made my way – BACKWARDS - little by little, inch by inch, – with that ear drum
busting, more than annoying, loud siren-sounding BEEPING racket, back up front
to the basket/cart section. Nope, of course - NOT ONE electric cart there. But
there were forty eleven (kind of like there are 35 registers in the store and
NONE are OPEN) OUT IN THE parking lot, all haphazardly sitting every which way,
probably dead as a door nail. This tough old cookie was about in tears at this
point. I must have looked pitiful as this nice older gentleman suddenly
appeared and asked if I was OK. “NO, sir, I’m not.” After explaining my plight
– the sweet man said he would go see if any of the ones in the parking lot ‘had
any gas’ in them. I thanked the Lord right then and there – out loud, as if
anyone would hear me even if I screamed “FIRE” at the top of my lungs! He came
back after a few minutes – buzzing along in a cart with a sweet smile on his
face. Apparently, he’d found a ‘running’ cart. He patiently helped me unload
all my items from the DEAD cart and place them in the new one. He even lined
the drinks AllTheWayAroundTheCart just as I had them in the DEAD cart. I
thanked him profusely and he just smiled and said it was his pleasure. I
doubted that but he was an angel and a life-saver to me. I am pretty sure I’d
still be there right now, had he not taken the time to be kind to me. I scurried
along, now in a hurry to get out of there and got the rest of my items and
headed up front to check out. By now, the space around my feet held items and I
had items in my lap and in both hands. It’s AMAZING how you can adapt and
improvise after 15 years of experience in one of those things. Now, they
usually always leave the tobacco aisle/register open – but ohhh, NO, not
tonight. In fact, there were NO REGISTERS open at all. The only way to check
out was the ‘self-serve’ check outs. Not only had I never done that before –
there was NO WAY I could do it. There was not enough space to hold all the
items – and well, just suffice it to say It.Was.Not.Happening. Not to mention
there were several lines of infuriated customers. ONE LONELY young lady was trying
her best to help those who needed it. SHEER CHAOS. I had sherbet, milk, cheese,
eggs, yogurt, etc. She patiently tried to show customers ahead of me how to
work the machine, but when it came my turn – she looked about as bad as I must
have looked to the kind gentleman. Initially, I was furious they would not have
the common sense to have at least one register open, even at 3:00 am!
Unfortunately, I could not contain myself and expressed my frustration by
demanding to speak to a manager. The girl promptly punched some buttons on the
register and told me she had summoned her - but it might be “awhile”. At this
point, what’s the rush? The girl told me there were only 2 people working ‘the
front’ and the other person was only handling returns and restocking. I told
her I had been there many times in the middle of the night and there was ALWAYS
(and I mean ALWAYS) a register open. She insisted they had been functioning
with just 2 people working the front at night for quite some time. (Don’t you
just hate it when someone disputes what you’re saying when you are basing it on
your own personal past experiences at that very place!) How hard could it be to
simply OPEN A REGISTER and check me out there? Grrrr! To make an even longer
story shorter – an hour later – YES I SAID AN HOUR – sixty minutes later – she
had scanned all my items and waited for me to give her my debit card. WHAT?
Debit card? Where’s my little change purse thingy I always take in with me?
Huh? O.M.G. It has to be in my car. Doesn’t it? I don’t remember. It’s usually
at the bottom of the cart OR I’ve taken cash in and stashed it where, well –
women stash things. Just at that very moment, the manager sashays into the
picture. I panic and tell the girl I have to go to my car to get my card – I just
want to leave and go home and get under the covers at this point! For a moment
I entertain the idea of just fleeing – getting away as fast as I can – but I’m
too worried about if my card/ billfold thingy is in my car – what if I had to
retrace each of my sputters around that store to look for my lost thingy. I
speed (HA) out to my car and PHEW – there it is. I quickly return, pay out and
the sweet girl has all my sacks packed neatly in a regular buggy and says she
is taking it out to my car for me. I could have kissed her on the lips, bless
her heart. RARELY have I ever allowed anyone to help me to the car with my
groceries, but tonight I welcomed it. Afterall, we were BONDED now – after
nearly 2 hours with each other – I had heard a lot about her and the policies
of Wal-Mart. I told her Sam would turn over in his grave if he knew the
shenanigans that went on. She and the manager agreed. Oh, and the manager – she
heard my complaints and let me speak my peace. That’s all most people want in
times like these. I appreciated that. She had looked so pitiful and just
apologized and said (basically) it was the fault of upper management – which
doesn’t surprise me. Isn’t it that way everywhere? The manager then went and
brought me new Sherbet – still frozen Sherbet. I thanked her and thanked her
for hearing me out. The young girl followed me to the car and we made a pretty
good team unloading all the bags into my trunk. She politely asked if anyone
would be at home to help unload them. I laughed and told her everybody would be
asleep. She said if it was closer to her quitting time, she’d follow me home
and help me. I don’t remember how the next subject came up but she mentioned
(in passing) she hadn’t eaten a meal in 24 hours and upon further query by me –
she wouldn’t have money until she got paid on Thursday. After we got everything
unloaded, I told her to wait just a moment while I got into my car – she sat
down in the electric cart to drive it back in – and I handed her a $20 bill –
that’s all the cash I had. She looked shocked but said she couldn’t possibly
take it – it was her job to help customers to their car if they needed it. I
told her I wasn’t paying her FOR THAT but that I wanted her to go buy her a
nice breakfast, put gas in her car – or do whatever she needed to do most with
it. She hesitated for a moment, tears came to her eyes – and then she asked if
she could hug me – and of course I said YES. I don’t know when I’ve been so
infuriated at a situation and then - it turned into something kinda wonderful.
And you know the rest of the story. So….How has YOUR Monday been so far? Ohhh,
mercy me! AfterAllThat, I still have to send sweet Courtney back to Wal-Mart to
get what wouldn’t fit in my cart! LoL It’ll be another month before I go
back……or two. I.Will.Need.Lots.Of.Coffee.Today. Now – where’d I put the coffee?
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