Attention WalMart shoppers...

Alright, alright... before you go getting your panties in a twist hear me out! Seems like this is the week for me to be Polly Pissy Pants (excuse me!). First my list of things that tick me off and now this!

Okay... here's the deal! We went out to get groceries today. I had just a few things on my list but I needed those things! I prefer going to a grocery warehouse like SuperSaver (you may have the same type of store by a different name)... but Jerry wanted to go to WalMart because he likes to stroll thru the sporting goods aisle and needed to pick up some shipping supplies for our eBay sales. WalMart really does have the best prices on those shipping envelopes... but that's beside the point!

On our way in the store we dropped off 2 large plastic bags full of MORE plastic bags in the recycling box. Good on us... we finally remembered to take them in!

I had two pair of khaki pants to return - for store credit, no less - and was glad to finally get that bag out of my house. The girl in Customer Service provided me with excellent service - although I would have preferred cash instead of store credit. Oh well! .

So far, so good, right?! Every time we go into WalMart we get what we came for plus $100 worth of crap we don't need! One of the things on my list was to buy & have installed new watch batteries in two watches I'd gotten at an auction. I only paid $1.50 for each of the watches & was willing to invest another +/- $5.00 on batteries. The woman at the jewelry counter very rudely told me that they no longer install watch batteries unless it's a watch sold by WalMart. These were obviously NOT WalMart watches. I looked surprised & I asked her what she suggested I do (they've always installed batteries for me in the past!) & she said I should take them back to where I bought them. I told her that was impossible since I had purchased them at an auction. She then suggested I take them to a JEWELER! Are you kidding me? I told her "thank you for nothing" and walked off. I let my husband know & a few others standing in the magazine aisle how unhappy I was about the situation. Apparently the almighty WalMart & similar stores such as ShopKo & Target are not willing to "risk the liability" of installing a battery in a watch not sold in that particular store.

Although we did not get a bunch of additional items our bill was still nearly $100. And as a final parting blow, we got NO discount for using our recycled shopping bags instead of plastic bags! At least the grocery stores give you a bit of a discount (usually 5 cents per bag... but hey! it all adds up!).

In a WalMart in Colorado I stood in line for almost 20 minutes (more to prove a point than anything else I guess) while the checker VISTED with a customer. I meant to just say it in my head... but the words came out "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" - they both looked my way & the customer, whose bags were filled & in her cart, looked at the checker & said "I'll call you later!". There were three people between that woman & me... and yet these two found it necessary to discuss private matters while others waited!

Usually when I'm in WalMart (did I mention that I'm really starting to dislike WalMart?) it's full of single moms (and sometime young couples) with at least two little ones - one in the cart & the other hanging off it - both of them wailing at the tops of their little lungs because they can't have Fruity Pebbles or some toy. Small children who are not in carts are usually being jerked out of the way of another's cart but according to the parent of said child, it's the fault of the other person - not their child! Some day I fully expect to hear over the loud speaker: "WalMart Shoppers! For your shopping pleasure we're featuring screaming children in Aisle 8... that's right... the cereal aisle is where you'll hear the latest rendition of 'why can't I have it', 'you can't have it, this one's mine' and 'NO... I don't wanna ride in the cart'!" Maybe they should have closed cameras & show little clips of screaming children & even worse behaving parents (because they allow their children to act the way they do) on those televisions they have hanging from the ceilings! Then there are the hygiene deficient people who ALWAYS seem to be right in front of you while standing in line to check out. Or the ones who run into someone they "haven't seen in years" and block aisle traffic from both directions! And of course the ever present Grocery Ad Watcher & Coupon Queen! These are the ones who take LOTS of extra time checking out because they have to show the checker the competition's grocery ad to get the "best price" or they've clipped a coupon for every item in their cart... and no one bothers to tell the people behind them that it's going to be a while! There should be a special lane for these people!

I'm at the point where I don't care if I CAN save money shopping at WalMart. It's not good for my mood or my sanity!