Wal-Mart, Oh, Wal-Mart

I remember when I used to enjoy going to Wal-Mart. Back when Sam Walton was still alive and actually cared about his customers. Back when Wal-Mart would actually have SALES instead of insisting on always having the lowest price (which turns out to be a lie these days). Before self-checking aisles (where you should get a discount since YOU do the work) replaced friendly employees. Yep, I even remember friendly employees who actually helped customers in the store.

Nowadays it's "I don't work in that department," "I'm getting off now," and clearance sales when all the good stuff has been cleared away. Sure, they have groceries, but the checkout lines are so long that most of your cold products are warm and your frozen products have defrosted by the time your turn comes around. The employees couldn't care less about helping you anymore. Oh, and just last night I encountered a problem that seems to get worse every time I go to a local Wal-mart: no buggies. Yep, you read that right: NO BUGGIES.

I popped into Wal-Mart to buy one thing that I really needed for my infant son. I had him and my young daughter in tow. Being a sucker for my kids, they were almost guaranteed some sort of a treat. When I reached the greeter, she looked at me, looked at the car seat my son was in and mumbled something about "no buggies." I looked into the vacuum that normally has a few buggies in it, saw the buggy boys standing around looking at the floor and proclaimed to my daughter that we weren't going to look at toys, clothes, food or anything else. "We're just going to get the formula and get out," I said. Of course, the disinterested employees did nothing in response (at least not while I was looking at them). It was raining, barely. No lightning, no torrential rain, no volcanic ash, just a drizzle. Am I to believe that the fear of getting wet kept the buggy boys from doing their job? Or perhaps it was the lack of customer service on the manager's part? Either way, it was the last straw for a tired father who's tired of dealing with these idiots.

From now on, I'm shopping at Target, my local grocers, and only eating at fast food joints NOT in a Wal-Mart. I'm finished with them.

Sure, Target may cost a bit more (mere pennies, and the service and store cleanliness is worth it) and so will my local grocers, but that's not going to make me hit my left turn blinker when I near my local Wal-Mart. Heck, Internet shopping sites are CHEAPER on a lot of their products. It only takes a little patience and a little searching to find exactly what you need at an ALWAYS low, NON-Wally world price!