Canadian Walmart adventures

[Julius Seeker]

The first thing to note, every time you go in there's usually a specially-abled person available at the door, and their greeting is probably the most pleasant thing about the whole experience! I am sure to always wish them a good evening on the way out the door, just because the majority of people won't, and I think that's a classless thing to do, even if the greeter is only doing his job.

The problem starts with the lighting. I don't know if it is exclusive to Canadian Walmarts, Atlantic based ones, or what. The light seems 30 times brighter than the sun! Plus it's not just any ordinary light; it is the most abrasive fluorescent light imaginable. I feel bad for anyone's eyes who work in these places, especially those with migraine issues. I don't know who designed the lighting system, but it makes the whole experience of setting foot inside Walmart quite miserable; if I have to go in there, it's a 10 minute AT MOST experience.

Second, the daytime customers are animals! I don't mean to sound overly racist, these are ONLY the white customers (at least around here), and certainly not all white customers - but more the middle-aged slack-jawed type who breathe heavily through their mouths. They lean on the carts as though it's the only way they can support themselves while walking and tend move about more slowly than ordinary people in their 80s. As well, they don't seem to have any concept of move-forward-on-the-right-side-of-the-aisle! There are plenty of people who stop to have conversations in the middle of the floor and have no consideration for the 6-7 people trying to get by them... I should note, Walmart has terribly cramped aisles between items. So, if ever I am going, I do what all the Asian customers do and go after 9 pm.

On the plus side, despite conventional wisdom, they actually have some decent produce and frozen foods; I'd have thought their quality would be terrible, but it's not. They also price things a lot lower than other places; so if you want to save 10-15 bucks on a 50 dollar run of groceries, Walmart is the place to do it. They are also one of the few places that sell decent bread for under $4.00, and their cheap bread (the kind you make garlic bread out of) goes about 88 cents! (what is this, 2003?) That's fairly insane - a similar loaf at Sobeys would be about $2.50.
I never buy clothing at Walmart though; even their black socks seem to suck.

The funniest thing I've noticed, and no one talks about it, is they tend to shift people by race. One night all the cashiers will be all black, another all Indian, and another all white. Is this normal? Or is my local Walmart uniquely racist?

Also, 80% of people working there hate their job - and it's evident if ever you're in there BEFORE 9 pm. So, even though it's annoying to get an angry/frustrated cashier, I tend to try to be as pleasant as possible; because judging by a lot of the people who go to Walmart, there's plenty of assholes out there already.

[Shellie]

I worked at Walmart for about 3 years starting as a Senior in HS. I worked in the shoe department. Back then the shoe department was actually a separate company and ran like any other lower priced shoe store. I helped people pick out shoe, tested fits for kids, etc. I actually really enjoyed it, except Christmas time. Walmart itself was horrible. There would never be anyone in the surrounding departments for helping customers, they would constantly be pulled to the front to run registers when it got busy. We didn't really know anything about the other stuff, but I tried to help as I could.

The company only got worse over time as they cut corners and employed fewer people to do more work. I won't shop at a walmart store anymore. However, the nearest grocery store to us now is a Neighborhood market store, which is like just the grocery section of walmart. I do go in there in a pinch but treat it like a convenience store. I do most of my grocery shopping at Aldi. I find prices there are the same if not cheaper than walmart.

[kali o.]

I only have one walmart nearby when I am in Vancouver. Its pretty grungy, in an odd location and some kinda mish-mash of a grocery store and department store.

I go there like once a year, to buy socks, underwear and ironic hipster tshirts.

The only thing I have noticed is there are a lot of severely disabled people, with caregivers, there (shoppers, not workers). Dunno why.

[Julius Seeker]

Some of them are faking it. I saw a woman driving around in a remote wheelchair the store had. When she was done she just stood up walked out of the store.

Speaking of which, someone literally bought 12 bags of family sized potato chips and packaged hamburgers. A man. No wedding band. Not a single fresh or frozen vegetable to speak of. He did not look very healthy. The sort you want to give a Canada food guide pamphlet to.

[Shrinweck]

Some of them are faking it. I saw a woman driving around in a remote wheelchair the store had. When she was done she just stood up walked out of the store.

This doesn't necessarily mean she was faking it. Since my surgeries I can only really stand up for 45-60 minutes (actually it might be longer, I haven't felt the need to go on long walks since my surgery but I stood in line to vote for about an hour once and this is how I felt and standing still in lines has always been very hard on me) at a time before I'm in so much pain my legs are shaking and I'm sweating. So while I wouldn't feel the need to use an electronic wheelchair, I understand how someone might feel the need to use one while still being well enough to easily walk to their car at the end of it. If I was in a situation where I had to shop for hours I would have to find a way to sit down for a few minutes every thirty minutes or so but would otherwise appear completely healthy to anyone surrounding me other than a slight limp.

In any case some people are just lazy.. it's just worth noting that not everyone is perceptibly disabled. Before my surgeries I could stand up for hours at a time but I would be in a high amount of pain for like 3-5 days afterwards. Outside of my circle for friends it was genuinely hard to routinely not put myself in situations where I would overdo it and hurt myself, especially since strangers would have no idea about my condition.

It's pretty common for people in my position to feel a degree of guilt for being able to come off as healthy while still potentially needing disability aid. I'm lucky enough to not need a caregiver or anything like that, but because my window of being able to stand up is significantly shorter than it was - I would be willing to take a handicapped/disability seat in a bus or subway without even a second thought these days.

[Shellie]

Some of them are faking it. I saw a woman driving around in a remote wheelchair the store had. When she was done she just stood up walked out of the store.

This doesn't necessarily mean she was faking it.

Agreed. I was diagnosed with MS a little over a year ago. I had a large attack that left my left leg extremely weak. I also now have a partially torn AT, bone spur, and swollen heel bone in my right foot. Walking long distances is very difficult these days. I push through the pain though. I don't use a chair or anything in the store, but I have a good enough excuse to do so. By the time I get to the car my foot and leg are on fire. But I don't, mostly because of pride and wanting to avoid judgy people.