[SIZE=12pt]First of all, whoever is the complete moron that went in and redesigned Walmart and moved the entire store contents around, I want to say @#$%^&*(#$%^&* I have been in 4 Walmarts over the holidays and everyone of them have moved their stuff around the store and I can't find stuff any more. It's all confusing now. It's a wonder I can still find the ladies room![/SIZE]
Now then. Once upon a time I lived in a place that had a beach, schools, a gigantic mall and yes, a Walmart at my finger tips. But this was all traded away to live rural. But who knew that these things now considered luxuries would be far, far, away from said rural home? At the time, not I.
Walmart is a necessity of life for us; A place you can go and accomplish so much in one trip. The boys can get their hair cuts while I get my glasses fixed, pick up some socks for the Hus, buy groceries , grab some school supplies, do lunch with the kids, all in one place. For a busy mom like me, Walmart is a life-line.
Having to travel to Walmart has been a day trip for the last 10 years and so very inconvenient. There are Walmarts in many areas, just a couple of counties away in all directions from me, but to get there has always been an on-going pain in the buttocks. They are located usually within 50+ or so miles of me, but when measuring in actually time, 50 miles can take me 1 1/2 hours to drive, due to twisty mountainous roads in many places. So it's always such a pain to hurry, hurry, hurry, and get there and hurry hurry and hurry to get back home, because I don't like to leave the farm for a whole day. While I'm away, I worry that I left the water running someplace, or a horse got out, or the dogs have to pee or the house has burned down.........Do you know how many times I have come home to find my Tracey sitting in the kitchen with her legs crossed?????? And soon as I open the door, she screams "MOMMYYYYYYY I have to go sooooo baddddddd......and she runs past me like a shot out of a cannon to the yard. Not to mention that while I'm gone out of the area, if it has begun to snow, sleet, or ice, I won't be able to get home at all and be stranded in town. Yes, that has already happened a few years ago and we could not get home for 3 days and were stuck in town. Another saga for another time. So when I hit Walmart, I have to hurry up, grab what I need, and head back home.
In 2005 we heard rumors that a Walmart would be coming to Sequatchie County and soon it wasn't a rumor. They broke ground and proceeded to build Walmart, just 23 or so+ miles from me down in the valley. That's where the boys go to school and where we do our business . How utterly convenient. No more day trips to Walmart. Now I can get there in record time and be home before anyone busts a bladder. This is a gift. Like a dream come true.
So the whole town awaits the building of Walmart very impatiently. And suddenly in 2006 we have a building going up in record speed. The opening was supposed to be in September which was perfect for Christmas shopping. And then some complications set in, something to do with coal mines, and Walmart would not be open now until January 19 of 2007. So the town waited again, and so did I.
On January 19, 2007 the doors to Walmart opened. They should have canceled school because the absentee list was something like 75%.Traffic was backed up along the highway coming in from 3 directions from Whitwell, Cagle Mountain, and Pikeville all headed for the little hand gliding town of Dunlap, who only has one traffic light in the center of town. What a traffic jam. And I was in it. I didn't care because that gave me much more time to sit and review and keep adding to my shopping list and just added to my excitment even more.
I finally reached my destination and went round and round and round in the parking lot forever before I could find a parking place. I was very happy to see that the parking places were painted on an angel instead of straight to help me park my long truck without having to back it up and straighten it up a hundred times.
There were all kinds of entertainment outside the store. Free hot dogs and cokes, a DJ playing some music on this big boom boom thing and the kids that skipped school were dancing in the parking lot and some game for the little kids.
Time for my grand entry. The minute I walked through the doors I noticed something was not right. It was dark in there. Dim. Something wrong with the lights I guess. Then I didn't know which way to turn. Had to get my bearings but I couldn't so I just started walking all over the place. Couldn't find things .Everything in that store seemed very odd and confusing. Then I ran into everyone! Pretty cool to go shopping in a place where every one's your neighbor, but we all said the same thing, that something was wrong with this store and there was. I could not find the stationary department to get my computer paper so I went to the electronics department to see if it was there. But there wasn't anything there for a computer at all, no supplies or anything computer related. So then I needed batteries and the guy and the lady there said the batteries were not in their electronics department and I should go look in the isles up front. HUH?
Then I went to the automotive department and found out it was missing a few things. Like where are the tires? And where are the guys that change your oil? The auto department is missing. So I then went to the craft department for some ribbon and that department was missing also. The whole department wasn't there. As I made my way back up to the front of the store, wait a minute! Where's the hair cutting place, the eye glasses place, the photo shop? Not there. WHAT KIND OF WALMART DID THEY BUILD US? Is this some kind of Tennessee joke cause I'm not laughing. And then I noticed that the floor wasn't there either. They painted the concrete gray. No flooring?????This is getting weirder and weirder by the minute. What's going on here anyway?
Ok, where's the ladies room? I can always get information out of people in the ladies room. You know how woman talk to each other while waiting in line......so Ok there is ONE bathroom in the store. 3 stalls total and 40 some woman in line. Oh this is going to be interesting. And it was. Everyone was talking about how little this store is and all the things that were missing. All the departments seemed to be shoved really close together and run into each other so close that you really can't figure out what you are doing. The men's department is cut basically in half and the all the rest of the clothing departments are tiny.And oh my gosh, there is no plus size section. Horrors! I'm mortified. I did find the bird seed for Scooter though....barely. They devoted a little tiny corner shelf 3 for birdies.
Ok I"m going to go sit down and have a cup of coffee and review,......no I"m not. There's no eating place either. Instead, there are three tiny tables in the front of the store that seat 2. And a vending machine that doesn't take money for cokes. And another one there that has donuts. You are on the honor system to pay. No coffee.
So I finally go to the food side and hope I can find some Fruity Pebbles for resident stud muffin. YES! There they are. And everything else on my food list was there also. So that was a good thing. That was a relief. The produce looked beautiful and I was like a rabbit throwing carrots and lettuce in my cart like crazy. But oh oh......deli? Ok there is a tiny deli, but no roast beef. Bakery? No, but a tiny area with some baked goods on a display in the isle. And all of a sudden, I see a sight that really makes me smile. Here comes my love child........and a bunch of his friends all of them calling me "MOM" and surrounded me with a huge big old group hug. Somebody skipped school..humm Now how come they are out of school? I told them not to tell me......... and then the love child sees his Fruity Pebbles in the cart and that rates me a big super smooch and another big old bear hug, followed by "got a spare $10 bucks? What else is new?
.
We part ways so I can get back to shopping and I head back out into this Walmart Stupid Center still in search for my batteries and I'm looking at this rack that should have double A Energizers that are rechargeable. Is that too much to ask? And I'm in deep concentration reading all the labels when all of a sudden I feel something pushing me and as I turn around,I screamed and fell back into the battery rack because this 10 foot tall giant Tigger the Tiger has snuck up on me and scared the crap out of me. I am not amused but he has me trapped now at the battery rack and is jumping around in front of me like he is wanting to play with me. And I tell him he should go away because he is embarrassing me but he won't leave and he is insisting on playing with me. So I start talking to him about the batteries and this little store and he kept nodding his big fat head. Finally I told him I really had to go and i was sure he had some little kids to entertain somewhere but he wouldn't leave me alone and decided to follow me all over the place and by this time I was getting very annoyed and terribly embarrassed. So then I told him that my son who is 6'2 and a body builder and his friends were in this store and if he didn't quit following me I would get them to pick him up and throw him over his shoulder and carry him away and bring him back to wherever he came from. That worked! So he finally let me alone to go harass someone else I guess.
Well that was my day at Walmart. So all in all, I think we've been ripped off. All this anticipation for a pretty big let down.I guess I'll still be making those day trips to the real Walmart over in Jasper from time to time. At least now, I'll be able to still by somethings there, save some gas and a lot of time, and it's better than no Walmart at all.
The End
Now then. Once upon a time I lived in a place that had a beach, schools, a gigantic mall and yes, a Walmart at my finger tips. But this was all traded away to live rural. But who knew that these things now considered luxuries would be far, far, away from said rural home? At the time, not I.
Walmart is a necessity of life for us; A place you can go and accomplish so much in one trip. The boys can get their hair cuts while I get my glasses fixed, pick up some socks for the Hus, buy groceries , grab some school supplies, do lunch with the kids, all in one place. For a busy mom like me, Walmart is a life-line.
Having to travel to Walmart has been a day trip for the last 10 years and so very inconvenient. There are Walmarts in many areas, just a couple of counties away in all directions from me, but to get there has always been an on-going pain in the buttocks. They are located usually within 50+ or so miles of me, but when measuring in actually time, 50 miles can take me 1 1/2 hours to drive, due to twisty mountainous roads in many places. So it's always such a pain to hurry, hurry, hurry, and get there and hurry hurry and hurry to get back home, because I don't like to leave the farm for a whole day. While I'm away, I worry that I left the water running someplace, or a horse got out, or the dogs have to pee or the house has burned down.........Do you know how many times I have come home to find my Tracey sitting in the kitchen with her legs crossed?????? And soon as I open the door, she screams "MOMMYYYYYYY I have to go sooooo baddddddd......and she runs past me like a shot out of a cannon to the yard. Not to mention that while I'm gone out of the area, if it has begun to snow, sleet, or ice, I won't be able to get home at all and be stranded in town. Yes, that has already happened a few years ago and we could not get home for 3 days and were stuck in town. Another saga for another time. So when I hit Walmart, I have to hurry up, grab what I need, and head back home.
In 2005 we heard rumors that a Walmart would be coming to Sequatchie County and soon it wasn't a rumor. They broke ground and proceeded to build Walmart, just 23 or so+ miles from me down in the valley. That's where the boys go to school and where we do our business . How utterly convenient. No more day trips to Walmart. Now I can get there in record time and be home before anyone busts a bladder. This is a gift. Like a dream come true.
So the whole town awaits the building of Walmart very impatiently. And suddenly in 2006 we have a building going up in record speed. The opening was supposed to be in September which was perfect for Christmas shopping. And then some complications set in, something to do with coal mines, and Walmart would not be open now until January 19 of 2007. So the town waited again, and so did I.
On January 19, 2007 the doors to Walmart opened. They should have canceled school because the absentee list was something like 75%.Traffic was backed up along the highway coming in from 3 directions from Whitwell, Cagle Mountain, and Pikeville all headed for the little hand gliding town of Dunlap, who only has one traffic light in the center of town. What a traffic jam. And I was in it. I didn't care because that gave me much more time to sit and review and keep adding to my shopping list and just added to my excitment even more.
I finally reached my destination and went round and round and round in the parking lot forever before I could find a parking place. I was very happy to see that the parking places were painted on an angel instead of straight to help me park my long truck without having to back it up and straighten it up a hundred times.
There were all kinds of entertainment outside the store. Free hot dogs and cokes, a DJ playing some music on this big boom boom thing and the kids that skipped school were dancing in the parking lot and some game for the little kids.
Time for my grand entry. The minute I walked through the doors I noticed something was not right. It was dark in there. Dim. Something wrong with the lights I guess. Then I didn't know which way to turn. Had to get my bearings but I couldn't so I just started walking all over the place. Couldn't find things .Everything in that store seemed very odd and confusing. Then I ran into everyone! Pretty cool to go shopping in a place where every one's your neighbor, but we all said the same thing, that something was wrong with this store and there was. I could not find the stationary department to get my computer paper so I went to the electronics department to see if it was there. But there wasn't anything there for a computer at all, no supplies or anything computer related. So then I needed batteries and the guy and the lady there said the batteries were not in their electronics department and I should go look in the isles up front. HUH?
Then I went to the automotive department and found out it was missing a few things. Like where are the tires? And where are the guys that change your oil? The auto department is missing. So I then went to the craft department for some ribbon and that department was missing also. The whole department wasn't there. As I made my way back up to the front of the store, wait a minute! Where's the hair cutting place, the eye glasses place, the photo shop? Not there. WHAT KIND OF WALMART DID THEY BUILD US? Is this some kind of Tennessee joke cause I'm not laughing. And then I noticed that the floor wasn't there either. They painted the concrete gray. No flooring?????This is getting weirder and weirder by the minute. What's going on here anyway?
Ok, where's the ladies room? I can always get information out of people in the ladies room. You know how woman talk to each other while waiting in line......so Ok there is ONE bathroom in the store. 3 stalls total and 40 some woman in line. Oh this is going to be interesting. And it was. Everyone was talking about how little this store is and all the things that were missing. All the departments seemed to be shoved really close together and run into each other so close that you really can't figure out what you are doing. The men's department is cut basically in half and the all the rest of the clothing departments are tiny.And oh my gosh, there is no plus size section. Horrors! I'm mortified. I did find the bird seed for Scooter though....barely. They devoted a little tiny corner shelf 3 for birdies.
Ok I"m going to go sit down and have a cup of coffee and review,......no I"m not. There's no eating place either. Instead, there are three tiny tables in the front of the store that seat 2. And a vending machine that doesn't take money for cokes. And another one there that has donuts. You are on the honor system to pay. No coffee.
So I finally go to the food side and hope I can find some Fruity Pebbles for resident stud muffin. YES! There they are. And everything else on my food list was there also. So that was a good thing. That was a relief. The produce looked beautiful and I was like a rabbit throwing carrots and lettuce in my cart like crazy. But oh oh......deli? Ok there is a tiny deli, but no roast beef. Bakery? No, but a tiny area with some baked goods on a display in the isle. And all of a sudden, I see a sight that really makes me smile. Here comes my love child........and a bunch of his friends all of them calling me "MOM" and surrounded me with a huge big old group hug. Somebody skipped school..humm Now how come they are out of school? I told them not to tell me......... and then the love child sees his Fruity Pebbles in the cart and that rates me a big super smooch and another big old bear hug, followed by "got a spare $10 bucks? What else is new?
.
We part ways so I can get back to shopping and I head back out into this Walmart Stupid Center still in search for my batteries and I'm looking at this rack that should have double A Energizers that are rechargeable. Is that too much to ask? And I'm in deep concentration reading all the labels when all of a sudden I feel something pushing me and as I turn around,I screamed and fell back into the battery rack because this 10 foot tall giant Tigger the Tiger has snuck up on me and scared the crap out of me. I am not amused but he has me trapped now at the battery rack and is jumping around in front of me like he is wanting to play with me. And I tell him he should go away because he is embarrassing me but he won't leave and he is insisting on playing with me. So I start talking to him about the batteries and this little store and he kept nodding his big fat head. Finally I told him I really had to go and i was sure he had some little kids to entertain somewhere but he wouldn't leave me alone and decided to follow me all over the place and by this time I was getting very annoyed and terribly embarrassed. So then I told him that my son who is 6'2 and a body builder and his friends were in this store and if he didn't quit following me I would get them to pick him up and throw him over his shoulder and carry him away and bring him back to wherever he came from. That worked! So he finally let me alone to go harass someone else I guess.
Well that was my day at Walmart. So all in all, I think we've been ripped off. All this anticipation for a pretty big let down.I guess I'll still be making those day trips to the real Walmart over in Jasper from time to time. At least now, I'll be able to still by somethings there, save some gas and a lot of time, and it's better than no Walmart at all.
The End
....next time you''ll know when the Wally World tiger gets frisky and wants to bust a move.
