Monday, May 01, 2006

Things That Annoy Me About Wal-Mart and the People Who Shop There

  1. So-called "clearance" price - If an item is $7.96 to begin with, please don't mark it down to $7.46 and call it a "clearance" item. Being an avid bargain shopper, I don't go anywhere without checking out the clearance rack. So when my radar locks onto one of those little red stickers and a "Clearance" sign, I get excited. Imagine my disappointment to discover the price is only fifty cents lower. Please. I have expended fifty cents worth of energy in walking over to the clearance rack. This has caused me to have huge trust issues. Is there no truth in advertising anymore?!
  2. People who wait for another car to leave a parking space so they can take it - Nothing gets my goat more than this one. There have been people stop and wait for me to unload my groceries, get all three of my kids into their car seats, put my shopping cart in the corral (see #3), get in my car, dig my keys out of my purse and pull out just so they can have my parking space. Oh, the pressure!! I can't take it!!! It's like someone is standing beside me, tapping their foot, whistling the Jeopardy theme song in my ear. And God help us all if I happen to be behind a car waiting for a parking space. Want to see my head pop off?
  3. Shopping carts left in the parking lot - The other day I was walking through the Wal-Mart parking lot to the entrance and there was a shopping cart smack dab in the middle of a handicap parking space. A handicap space, for the love of God! Have you no shame? I grabbed it and took it inside with me, just as a sweet, feeble little old lady in a Hummer almost ran me over, taking the space I had just emptied for her. Poor little dear. (Okay, it wasn't a Hummer, it was a minivan. But putting her in a Hummer makes it sound funnier, don't you think?)
  4. People who go the wrong way in the parking lot - The big, gigantic yellow arrows painted on the asphalt? They mean something. Take a clue.
  5. People who take their small children to Wal-Mart after 10:00 p.m. - I was leaving Wal-Mart at 10:00 p.m. one day last week, while my children were at home with Daddy, snoozing in their beds. There were people walking into the store with toddlers. Hey, to each his own. But if you ask me, I'd rather have a bikini wax than take a tired child to Wal-Mart. They must be massochists.

14 comments:

Heth said...

I'm SO with ya. Especially #4.

Bored Housewife said...

Amen, sistah! Number 4 has always gotten me, too. Like...what the crap is the matter with these people?? I take my kids to the store ONLY when there is no other option. And yeah, the parking place nazis--weirdos. Don't they know it would be faster to just go to an open spot that is further away, and GET SOME EXERCISE on the way to and from the store?? Ahem. You may have hit a nerve... :)

AbbieCRAZY said...

Wal-Mart is trying to take over the WORLD! They wish to have the entire WORLD shop only there! I was waxing eloquent just last night on the Evil Empire as I like to call it.

Why, oh why, so people have children awake at 10:00??? The child's teacher (day care worker) is wondering why the child is always so tired and takes 3 hour naps! I think of it as my private time.

jesprincess said...

You may already know of my deep hatred for WM. I do not shop there anymore, at all, ever. Every time I leave that store I am angry. I decided one day that it just isn't worth it to me for a few pennies. And I have not had to increase my grocery budget at all. So, either prices really aren't that much more other places or I spend less because I don't walk by 4000 things that I don't need and would never buy if they weren't there with a cheap price tag. I also try to support Oklahoma owned and operated businesses like Reasor's. I like them also because they carry items that are made in OK and they have those items labeled. Pretty cool, supporting our own economy instead of China's I mean. Well, I can definitely climb onto a BIG soap box about WM. I hate WM!

jesprincess said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
jesprincess said...

And don't get me started about the WM employees. They are like brainwashed clones. They believe WM can save the world or something. Seriously, if you talk bad about WM in front of one it starts defending it and getting upset. Weird. They are also rude. They act like it's a big problem if you need help with something. They don't want to uphold their own policies. I speak specifically of the one where if the item rings up wrong they will give the lesser of that item for free or three dollars off. Have you ever tried to enforce that? It's a nightmare. One time I actually had a cashier tell me "That's not what that means?" Oh really? What does it mean then, and why do have signs up all over the registers about that policy if you don't want to honor it?!?! Like I said, don't get me started.

Undercover Angel said...

You are so right on the money. I live for clearance racks, and I hate when the bargains aren't really that great of bargains at all.

Shopping carts in parking lots drive me nuts. People are just to lazy to take them back after they empty the contents of the cart into their cars.

Kids in stores after 10pm drives me crazy too - or kids in strollers downtown after 10pm. What are those mothers thinking??

janjanmom said...

I LOVE IT when someone is waiting for me to load my groceries and my three kids and then get my spot. I just go into slo-mo. Sometimes we even have a snack. It has happened that the person's head popped off and they had to drive on. Of course then I pull immediately out, smiling. This is how I will die. Someone's road rage(parking lot rage) will do me in.

heartsjoy said...

BBL - Big Belly Laugh!!

Thanks for the post, this is so funny and I think we can ALL relate! I also love the comments.

I am with Jan Jan Mom, I just slow down because I don't like the pressure so I just go the other route so they will give up and move on. Maybe it's rebellious but come on, like Lisa said, get some exercise. lol

Kyle said...

Did I really just read the words 'bikini wax' on your blog?

Antique Mommy said...

Yes to all that, especially the so-called Clearance stuff. What are you doing in Wal-Mart after 10pm anyway? Shouldn't you be home changing your kids 28 gallon filled to capacity diaper?? :)

Michelle- This One's for the Girls said...

I just want to say that I thought of you today when I...

WENT DOWN THE WALMART PARKING LOT IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!!!!

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!

(It was an accident, though.) I did return my cart...

Chris Bryant said...

Just do what I do, DON'T SHOP AT WAL-MART! Yeah you'll pay a little more, but I have a clear concience.

Clean Up Foreclosed Homes said...

If someone is waiting for me while I'm trying to unload groceries, put the young ones in the van, and all that, I'll admit I will take my sweet time. Walking a ways to the store doesn't hurt you at all.

The clearance racks they have irks me too. It's just a waste at times to check what they have on them.