Pagans Have To Shop, Too

Today, the grandkids and I are going to Walmart. I know I'm spelling it wrong but I refuse to capitalize it. I have a love/hate relationship with the place. We have all heard how the huge stores end up eliminating the cozy old timey mom and pop stores in the neighborhoods and I remember some of those. One time my kids stopped at a little store in the neighborhood and came home with candy, an Elvis record and a kitten. They spent less than a dollar. Well, the kitty was free.

If we go to Walmart now, we get candy, groceries, clothes, dog food, cat food, fish food, tropical fish (no kittens, much less an Elvis record) and we spend at least $100. That's the part I hate. On the other hand, often I see mom and pop in there shopping and you can get a puppy or a kitty if you stop at the cars and trucks at the edge of the parking lot.

Times change. Like everyone else, I sometimes yearn for a simpler time when we were younger but that isn't how it is. If we didn't go to the superstores and spend our money, the superstores wouldn't exist.

What I love about Walmart is that it is the new melting pot of the nation. Here, sooner or later, we see everybody. I have seen Asians, Mexicans, Europeans and Muslims (It's a shame that they were a little uncomfortable - a young couple with a baby.). I have heard many languages and accents. Of course, I've also run into friends. I've seen happy parents, grandparents with happy children. I've also seen miserable families. Most people will make eye contact and smile while others are so unhappy that the anger leaks out of their eyes.

I've seen fights and have seen employees chase down a man wielding a knife.

If you smile first, young people will smile back. A few people are distracted by their thoughts and look right through you. My favorite is the older person for whom the trip to Walmart is their social contact in what might otherwise be a lonely life. They will chat with you about just about anything. We are a social race, we humans, and isolation can be a painful thing.

Walmart provides jobs. We have all heard of the NoOvertimePayNoInsurance issues with employees but Wally World is not the only company guilty of this. Some of the agencies I've dealt with over the years limit their employees hours to 39 so they don't have to provide insurance or, and this is a favorite, no holiday pay. Always the same.

Life is tough. Get over it. At least it's a job.

Since the growth of superstores appears to be inevitable, I suggest we grin and bear it. If we spend too much money there, we probably need to learn moderation. Not an easy task, I admit, especially when the grandkids come along. The superstores are the old fashioned markets of days gone by. Instead of wandering from booth to booth, chatting with neighbors and merchants and paying each one individually, we wander from area to area and chat with neighbors and employees and then go pay in one big chunk. It's not that different.