The WalMart Debacle

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I detest WalMart. No, it's not for how they treat their workers. No, it's not because the store is always crowded, full of interesting people who have difficulty understanding there is a world around them that involves other people.

Little did I know that I would be on a civil rights crusade this past week. This was the straw that broke my ever-loving, WalMart-hating back.

My story starts as a typical day; I need a few odds and ends and head to W-World with Dad and Baby Ricky. As babies do, my son decided to throw a hissy fit just as I was checking out of the store. The cashier, to her credit, rushed me along pleasantly and quickly as I apologized for my son's banshee yells.

Then I get to the exit.

I now have a baby in the cart who is full-on, Exorcist-like yelling; so loud, I am sure that they could hear him back in electronics. Yeah, that bad. I am trying to navigate my cart, which contains only about 3 BAGS. (I write "bags" in all caps because this is pertinent for the next part). So: to recap, screaming demon baby, and cart not even full with bagged items.

The door greeter stops me. "I need to see your receipt."

I am not exactly proud of what transpires next, but I was at my wits' end and this abomination of an accusation threw me over the edge.

"What?!" I exclaim. "Are you kidding me???" I add, motioning my head towards the 3 BAGS and my now even MORE screaming baby, who has now noted the stopping of the cart and is even more pissed off. Now, I didn't have anything that beeped, I didn't have any X-Boxes or computers or anything remotely scandalous in my bags. Just groceries. IN BAGS.

I must have given that lady the Glare Of Death, because she took a step backwards. "I am just doing my job," she replied feebly.

This incensed me more. I don't know why.

"Your JOB," I said through clenched teeth, "is to stop people with screaming babies who just want to get the hell out of here, with everything in a bag?? What kind of stupid shoplifter would I have to be, and what kind of stupid people would have to work here, for me to not only steal groceries but to BAG them neatly? Don't you think, somewhere along the line, SOMEONE would have said, "Hey, stop that lady; she is stealing groceries, WalMart bags, and is packing them away neatly!!" Are you kidding me, lady?"

The lady is now pretty scared, and part of me felt sorry for her, but the other part of me, the one who believes in innocent before proven guilty, won out. She is still standing there with her hand partly out, still expecting me to hand her a receipt.

I open my purse, get the receipt out (I know; my fault. Maybe I shouldn't have packed it away, but who in the hell gets stopped for bagged groceries? I could see it if I had something that would beep, or was unbagged, or was a big-ticket item. I don't think I was wrong in assuming that I would not need to be stopped.)

I give her the receipt and say calmly but still with That Look In My Eye, "Hurry it up, then." She doesn't even give it more than a millisecond of a glance before she hands it back to me.

That infuriated me even more!!

"Was it worth it?" I snapped.

"I'm just doing my job," she tried to explain again.

"Look lady, let me give you a bit of advice," I said, more calmly. "In this economy, people aren't spending money. They sure as hell are not going to go somewhere, where they are accused of shoplifting when everything is above board. They also are not going to go somewhere where the door greeter, who should have common sense and a sense of discretion, stops a woman with a howling baby and bagged groceries who just wants to get the hell out of there. Lastly, you didn't stop anyone else, so your picking on me was just asenine. Your job is dependent on people like me coming in and blowing 50 bucks on crap, entering and leaving with the minimum of stress. People don't talk about a good experience, but they sure will tell lots of people about a bad one. When the economy gets better, you think people will forget stuff like this, about the lady at the door who did not use common sense or discretion, which I know you should have? No, they won't forget, and your job will be done for; not because you didn't do it, but because there is no money to pay you, or you pissed off the wrong person."

I left. I doubt I will go back. Honestly...I know that is an empty statement usually uttered by the pissed off special snowflakes who do not get their way, but I am so honestly done with that place.

Rick tells me that I should have just let it go. I can't. I work my butt off to be the best instructor, mother, wife that I can be. I want those who know me to know I have integrity, honesty, and truth. When someone doubts that, I tend to get really mad.

I also shudder over this phenomenon in our society that we just ACCEPT crappy things because "that's just the way it is." No, it's not. We let ourselves get this way. Our apathy got us this way. Case in point: politics. Reps and Dems, hate most of them, but I think we should hate ourselves the most. We can't blame the government for everything...WE put them there. We allowed the status quo. Now we take notice and get involved in government, because NOW, we have something to lose. And, we ARE losing.

Pastor Martin Niemöller (circa 1959-1960) is quoted as saying:

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

With that said, I spoke up to that W-World door greeter, because it's NOT okay to be treated this way. I did not agree to a search when I walked in the door; there was no implicit or complicit contract that I agree to these shenanigans just to save a buck. Sam's Club, yes; it's explained, it's understood, and if I don't like it, I don't have to shop there. But Sam's gives you a CHOICE; it's not random, it makes sense. I refuse to play by willy-nilly rules, especially ones that are detrimental to my own sense of security and privacy.

I don't need my morality dictated by people who cannot even manage themselves. And, if you are going to accuse me of something, look me in the eye and call a spade a spade. Make it part of the WalMart shopping experience, so people know what they are in for and can choose accordingly, not stressing over whether today will be the day where they randomly choose you; and you know that day will be the one with the screaming kid, your receipt put away, and you just want to LEAVE because your business has been conducted.

My business with Walmart has been conducted, and now concluded. Am I proud I probably upset that lady? No, not personally; however, as a representative of WalMart, who has discretion that she chose not to use, she was the target of my anger and indignation. Am I going to make a difference in their bottom line by never returning? Still, probably not. I wish more people would stand up for their own rights, though. THAT would make a difference. Power is a perception; WalMart does not have the power to ignore the law. Most people give up the receipt because of stories they hear on The Consumerist and are afraid to get tackled in the parking lot.

WHY? I ask. WHY! When, in our history, was it okay to conduct business and then have to prove it 3 seconds later? Why is it okay to randomly stop someone who neither look suspicious, or even has any visible indicators of wrongdoing? Why should someone even have to post on the 'net that they got into a brouhaha because they refused the request (and, legally, that's all it is: a REQUEST. They can't even stop you for REAL shoplifting until you have left the premeses).

Do a search sometime on The Consumerist for walMart stories. (Web address: http://consumerist.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&limit=20&search=walmart ). Are some people just dinks? Sure. But, I urge you to read the stories and make your own opinion.

Happy Sunday!