We got some gifts for Christmas that I knew Wal Mart would take back so away I went. Hello, store credit! Everytime I go there, I am overwhelmed with multiple feelings....arrogance, pity, aggravation, superiority, and several others that I should not feel. I have also been frequenting www.peopleofwalmart.com and laughing at the sad people on the site so that probably makes me a bad person. That got me thinking about a time I went to Wal Mart and how it made me feel so I decided to repost an old post from a couple years ago since it still rings true today. I often get the urge to buy people things while I am in line. Sometimes I do, but it is never much money, usually a buck or two.
Original Post:
I try not to shop at Wal Mart, not because I am snobby or anti - Wal Mart, but merely because I hate the long check out lines. How can you have 40 lanes and only 4 cashiers? I would go elsewhere if I had a better choice here in Little Rock, but Harvest Foods is nasty, Kroger annoys me for some reason, and we don't have a Super Target or a Whole Foods. I usually go to the one on Chenal, which isn't so scary since most of the clientele are maids or soccer moms, but as I was killing time waiting on Lisa, I went to the Jacksonville Wal Mart, which is a very rural Wal Mart near the Air Force Base. Lots of military and rednecks. I have to say when I got there I hadn't ever seen such an interesting assortment of people in one place at one time. Apparently not only is Jacksonville Wal Mart the capital of interracial relationships involving platinum headed women and black men (which confused me because I thought people in Jacksonville were prejudiced), it is also the capital of middle-aged women with black eyes, Pentacostals in search of International Coffee sales, non-english speaking hispanics, men with eyepatches, and people who haven't bathed in several days. I felt very out of place, as I don't fit into any of those categories. At first, I was feeling pretty snotty and kept thinking horrible things in my head about these people. Giggling about the bad makeup and out of date fashions, then about the large amount of platinum hair dye probably sold at this store. Apparently my natural instinct is to feel superior to the people around me, which I need to change if I really am on a quest to be a better person. Then as I was in the check out line (only 3 people long this time), I noticed the old lady and the young man in front of me. She was very weathered and tan and he was young, about 10 and was wearing a ball jersey and some old tennis shoes. I overheard their conversation as I was waiting behind them in line. She was sorting through the items in the buggy and I assume making sure she had enough money to pay for them. Mostly it looked like clothes for him as well as some baseball pants and a toy. He was trying to get her to put back some of the clothes because he thought they were too expensive. He asked her how much a pair of khaki shorts were and she said $10, and he said that was too much for clothes and tried to put them back. She wouldn't let him and told him he needed the clothes. Then he tried to put back his baseball pants and she put them back in the cart and said they were getting all of it. I felt horrible. Here I was judging these people whom I knew nothing about. Judging them based on their clothes, looks, etc. The people in front of me were obviously poor and the kid needed clothes. His grandmother was buying him some clothes because for whatever reason his parents couldn't, and he thought $10 was a lot to pay for a pair of pants. Holly, my dog, has shirts that cost more than that. I felt like such an asshole. I have never been poor, I have never been even close to being poor. My parents spoiled me and I haven't ever worried about where my next meal was coming from or even whether or not someone had enough money to buy me pants. When I was 10, I would have thrown away pants before i would have worn pants from Wal Mart. I might still have trouble wearing wal mart pants. That woman looked like she had worked hard for a living, maybe even outside in the sun. I have worked in an office since I was a kid. I never get my hands dirty or a sunburn at work. I am a spoiled, selfish brat. I wish I had an extra $100 that day because I would have bought that old woman's items. I do know that if she had put anything back, I would have paid for it and then chased her down and given it to her. I made up my mind that if I do ever have extra money in my life I am going to make a point to go to Wal Mart as often as I can and pay for random people's items.I consider myself a Republican and have a huge problem with most social programs. I hate the waste involved with the system and the overhead we spend just managing the whole mess. Maybe I need to rethink why I am a Republican. Is it because I am a snob that never had to work hard for anything? Maybe if my parents had been the recipients of some social welfare I would feel differently. Thoughts?
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