Walmart....Shop or Not?! This is not a nice post :)

NOT ME......but read on and you'll see the reason for the photo

 

Last night I was laying awake, couldn't sleep and started to think about Walmart...pathetic, right?  You have to understand....we have a history with Walmart in our family.

We have traveled during the winter for the past 8 years or so.  We are self-employed and home school our kids, so we had the perfect opportunity to do so....and if you can, why not give your kids the experience of traveling, seeing new things, meeting people, etc.

Anyway, when you travel with an RV it's common knowledge that you can park overnight at most Walmarts....so begins my adventure.

When it would get to 'that time of night' we'd plug Walmart into our GPS, we'd park and I'd always go inside, buy dinner groceries and ask management if we could park for the night.  They pretty much always said 'yes' unless there where city ordinances.

Many a night were spent parked next to a rumbling semi....ahh, the memories.

All went smoothly on our many travels, until......the fateful night in Texas....

As usual, we parked, I shopped, asked management, they said "yes".....we set-up 'camp' for the night, sat down to eat only to hear a voice over a loud speaker, "come out of the camper, now"  so....I was the chosen one to poke my head out the door, only to find several cop cars and cops with speakers shouting at me.  What was I doing there, who was with me?  Really?  I'm eating, sir, with my family,sir...CHILDREN sir.  Seriously.  Once the air was cleared and I assured them management said it was ok, we were left to eat our dinner in relative peace.

Off to sleep, BAM BAM BAM loud rapping right at our heads at about 5am.....what a way to wake up.....apparently the morning shift management was NOT notified that we had approval to stay, after he yelled at us, we were more than happy to get out of  there.

That Walmart is forever on our 'do not stay' list, 'do not shop' list, and just about every other list you can think of.

Currently we are in AZ, we are not in an RV, but I still have a tendency to veer towards Walmart for my grocery needs, especially when the local Fry's gives me sticker shock.

Will I buy fruit there?  NOPE, clothing?  NOPE...ok call me a snob, but NOPE.  Meat?  Depends......boxed goods are really quite safe, unless you are at a store where there are birds trapped inside, then you may find droppings on your cans, boxes, etc.

...........speaking of droppings, yup.....this is gross

BUT.....at a particular Walmart in MN, I was in line, looked down, and apparently the elderly lady in front of me had a moment, yes....droppings on the floor....a little trail.....I told the cashier, who called over the manager who proceeded to grab a paper towel, scoop the poop, throw it in the trash under the register and walk on to the next cashier needing help.  Ummmm, really?  REALLY.  Didn't wash his hands, poop in the can by the register, didn't call somone to scrub the floor.  To give the cashier credit, she was as appalled as I was.

Then there is the funny, the lady in NM who was walking around the store with her 'sugar daddy' and her skirt tucked into her nylons....I was NOT a nice person that day, I just couldn't tell her, I was trying too hard not to laugh....ok, not nice.

And then....the people, do the people at your Walmart scare you?  Depends on where you are.  At my MN Walmart I shop among people in their pj bottoms and slippers, camo coats, butt cracks peeking at me and muffin tops.  Not overly appetizing.  At the AZ Walmart where I shop there are some very classy ladies, dressed to the nines, people wear day clothes, I have yet to see a pair of slippers, a pair of pj's, a muffin top or a butt crack....it's so very nice.

Now....I'd like to hear from you....do you have any Walmart stories?  Any great stories from any other stores?  I don't want to give just Walmart a hard time...just seems as though that's where my interesting sightings tend to happen!

FYI....after writing this I decided I needed a photo, did a google image search, when I typed in Walmart, 'people of walmart' popped up....look for yourself....