Ummm, REALLY?!?

   Let me preface this post by saying that I've never really liked Wal-Mart.  Now I know that there are good people everywhere, but I've just never been too keen on the idea of a superstore that specializes in just about EVERYTHING.  When the first Wal-Mart Supercenter came to Dothan, it was just right down the street from where I lived, and it went in where an old peanut field used to be.  Just that fact alone gave me enough reason for my ever-present burning dislike of the chain store.  (In case you didn't know, I'm a Horticulture major, and I pretty much feel for anything agriculture related.) But I know that life must go on, people must make money somehow, and this one little girl isn't going to stop progress.  (Plus, it didn't really stop us from going several times a week!)

   Since that very first run-in with the very prospect of Wal-Mart, I've had several memorable experiences in the store.  I also have several key guidelines to safe and happy Wal-Mart shopping.  First, never be in a hurry.  If you find yourself in a hurry, you might as well just put down all your items, and go to Winn Dixie.  I speak from experience when I say that it will be much quicker that way.  Secondly, don't judge the line at the check-out counter just by how far back it goes, or how many things each person has in their cart.  Instead, study the cashier, and each person to see if they look like the kind of people who will be quick checker-outers or not.  And lastly, be willing to laugh at any situation...no matter what.  I'm really glad I have these guidelines to go by, because if I had not, my trip to Wal-Mart yesterday would have been miserable.

    My parents came back to Auburn with me on Saturday to help me get moved back in, and then basically clean up everything as well!!  It was great!!!  Anyhow, they stayed until yesterday, and we ate hamburgers before they left.  I needed to go by Wal-Mart on the way home to eat in order to pick up a few things, as well as an onion we needed for the burgers.  I obtained my six items from the shelf rather quickly, but not really in any sort of panic.  I walked up to the check-out counters and chose my cashier.  There was only one person in front of me, and it was just another college student buying a few things like me.  He finished quickly, paid and then left.  It was now my turn.  The first thing the cashier picked up to scan was the onion.  Now you're probably thinking at this point that I'm about to say she couldn't find the barcode or the fresh produce number, or that she needed to leave immediately or something, but no, I'm not.  She placed the onion on the scales, and put in the fresh produce number.  The price came up as $0.88/lb and the onion weighed exactly one pound, meaning the total price was $0.88.  The cashier suddenly looked up at me, and said, "That's not the right price.  I can see it from here, and it says it's $0.50/lb."  At this point, I'm still trying to process exactly what she said, but managed to just say, "it really doesn't matter because I'm just really not all that worried about $0.38."  But do you know, she wouldn't let it go!  She cancelled out the onion and then rang up my other items.  It was now time for the onion again.  She tried one way after another, this way and that, but never could get it right.  She literally must have tried 5 or 6 different ways, but that stubborn onion just wouldn't be the right price.  One time she had her hand on the scale and the onion weighed about 8 pounds, and one time it rang up around $0.35/lb (I really would have taken that one!).  No matter how she did it, it just wasn't right.  So do you know what she did next?  She picked up that onion, looked me square in the eyes, and said..."I mean, do you really need this anyways?"  UMMM, REALLY?  YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WOULDN'T JUST LET IT GO WHEN I SAID I DIDN'T MIND IT FIVE MINUTES AGO!!!!!  (Now, you don't really think I said that, do you?)  "Yes," I said, "I really need it."  So, just like it was the easiest thing in the world, she rang it up manually at $0.50/lb..  Funny though that it still came out at about the same price, because somehow in all that stress that the onion underwent, it gained half of a pound.  That's when I remembered my last rule.  Just laugh.  I laughed on the inside until I finally got outside and then laughed out loud.  I actually giggled a little to myself almost all the way home. 

     So next time you're at Wal-Mart, and you're faced with some long lines, slow people, and even more interesting cashiers, just think about my onion....and laugh.