Last Day (270 if you're still counting)

Today was my last night at Wal-Mart. I really didn't say goodbye to too many people. I told Rebecca I would see her sometime soon. Everyone else I basically just bye to like any ohter night. I didn't want to make a big deal of it at all. That's the way I usually am with these sorts of things.

I feel little but sad, because I will miss these people, if not this job. Maybe I dont have a crush on CSm Tiffany or Katie in electronics anymore, and maybe I never really did. And maybe I will miss Rebecca having her baby. And maybe I will miss Dean have trouble hearing customers. And maybe I will miss Dan trying to be funny and failing. And maybe I will miss Veronica's mischievious smile. And maybe I will miss Brian making fun of literally everyone. And maybe I will miss Margie and her kind words. And maybe I will miss never getting to know Anna better. But it's time to move on.

I'm not sure I accomplished what I set out to do when I started this blog. And I'm not sure I really even care anymore. All I know is that I made some new friends, and wouldn't trade that for the world. Yeah, Wal-Mart is a botch to work for. But these people I work with need jobs and incomes and discounts so that they can support families and pay rent and buy "designer" clothes.

So next time you have a problem with Wal-Mart, don't take it out on the people with the blue, green or red vests. Just ask for a member of management and tear their head off. Or better yet, write a letter to Lee Scott and tell him how dissapointed you are wth they way his compnay treats the heart and soul of its labor force -- those schulbs, like me, who wear those God-awful vests five times a week, for $7.15 an hour, who do their best not to cry every time they clock in.

Or something like that.

We mess things up all the time. It's like our motto or something.

Apparently Danny in Lanw & Garden gave a customer the wrong weed killer for her garden and she killed $400 worth of plants she bought in two days. Danny's new, and often works lat inthe evening with no one else to help him out, so it's really not his fault. I prefer to blame the lady, because she shopped at Wal-Mart for all her gardening needs.

Sucker.

Miss Veronica

I didn't tell many people about giving my two weeks notice. Only a few like Rebecca and Margie and a few others. I mentioned it to Veronica tonight and she was kind of sad and maybe a little bit angry at the same time. She's funny, and I really will miss her.

Almost there now.

Old people tell jokes that aren't allowed in America anymore. Cherish them or hate them, they remind us of things we have long thought forgotten.

Tonight one of the Greeters used the N-word in a jokey kind of way. I won't say who, only this:

Isn't gossip great?

Acting!

On Saturdays, I see more old scowling ladies than you can shake a stick at.

[And I hear you're a pretty good stick shaker.]

So I smile and pretend they smile back. It's about the only way to get through the day without throttling one of them.

Why am I so violent these days?

Fish sticks anyone?

People buy too much pre-packaged, frozen food. Cooking doens't take as much time as most people think. Some day, I might refuse someone their Swanson dinner and get fired.

I better get on that right quick.

Sigh

In my old job, I worked with children in an after school program. I miss that alot these days. This job might have funny stories, and maybe Tiffany is my soulmate, but I never get to read books to kids and talk to them about their day or their parents or crap on the Disney Channel.

Not much longer though.

Lawn & Garden Days

On some days, instead of working on the Front End, I get to run a register out in the Garden Center. This allows me to hang out in the sun and get my hands dirty with potting soil. We listen to Beatles cds and Smooth Jazz radio. Sometimes Kenny G makes me want to kill people, but then I remind myself I am working outside until 7 or 8 at night. Sometimes in rains, and we get sent in. Other times we stay out there and "forget" to tell the CSMs inside that there aren't any customers out there. The Garedn Center has the nicest and most pleasant associates in the store. We all chat and get along like peanut butter and jelly.

If I didn't get to work out here, I would most likely fall into a deep, deep depression. I love these Garden Center associates and their little part of the store that doesn't feel like working at Wal-Mart. Someday, I think we'll rule the world.

Strange Days

So today in the Garden Center, there was something of an incident.

Jackthe Greeter was minding his greeting business, when a truck drove past the Garden Cneter, stopped at the sign, and woman dropped out the door. She didn't so much exit and she was pushed and leaped to escape her "friend" driving the truck. She landed on the ground, a little bewildered and very, very topless. That's right, public nudity at Wal-Mart!

Anyway, Jack rushed over and offered her his vest to wear, when the man in the truck got out and pushed her back into the truck and sped away. Jakcj said she was in tears, and didn't seem like she wanted to go. But he wasn't sure what all he was allowed to do. It all sounds kind of funny now, but only because it scares the crap out of me, too.

My job is so weird.

Two Weeks Notice

I gave my two weeks notice today. Management made little jokes about how they were going to "lose" my notice, and how I couldn't leave. It was flattering, and kind of uncomfortable, because I didn't know what to tell them when they asked what I was doing next. "Oh," I'd say, "I'm going to go work for a grocery store in Chicago that actually offers me affordable and quality health coverage, and startes me out at $8.50 an hour."

But I'm not that mean. At least, not in real life.

Only on the internet.

Oldness

Today, a customer called our People Greeter Jack a bastard because he told her she couldn't park in the fire lane right otside the Garden Center. She was old, and with her daughter and grandaughter. Not the best example to be setting for the kid I have to say.

Note to self: don't get old.

Whatever you do, don't look under the garbage bins beneath the registers!

We have two people who clean the store during the day. They mop, sweep, clean spills, wipe up snot and boogers and split orange juice, dust shelves, empty trash, fix minor manitenance problems and tape things that can be fixed with tape. One works during thew day, the other at night. Over night we have a cleaning crew of four or five guys. But during the day, it's just these two. And not every day at that (they've got to have time off!).

Welcome to our Wal-Mart Supercenter, maybe it's not the cleanest, but at least it's not as bad at those ghetto Wal-Marts.

Maybe that's not posted anywhere, but it seems to be the general senitment from our mangement team these days concerning cleanliness.

Go team.

Phone calls to Bentonville

So I talked to two very nice ladies at the Wal-Mart Home Office today about our abissmal health care. And it went very bad.

First off, let me say this. They were sooooo nice. One was like my mom, the other maybe a few years older than me. They love Wal-Mart and can't beleive the viscious lies that other companies would want to spread about their glorious company. They basically chalk it up to jealousy and move on to other more important matters. Like church potlucks. I oved them and hated them all at the same time. And I couldn't manage to argue with them at all. They beleived every word that came down from on high like it was the Gospel truth. They were so nice I just wanted them to beleive that they had won me over. They had arguments, most of them that followed the jealousy model mentioned above, and the idea that the media always enjoys tearing down the top dog for the simple reason that their the top dog (that's all paraphrased, of course).

I was paralyzed with sadness. I'm niot sure if there's anyone within the company who doesn't trust the compnay 100%. Except maybe the thousands of associates making less than $8 an hour. But apparently, they don't count.

At one point, the younger lady on the phone seemed to criticize certain associates for spending too much money on designer clothes when I asked them how our assocaites were supposed to get by on 8 bucks an hour. I don't know if she's been to my Wal-Mart lately, because it's not exactly Soho or Greenwitch Village where I work. Maybe her idea of deisgner clothes is shopping at Target. But I didn't ask her that. I just felt sorry for her.

There were more abusrd things said, but I'm tto tired to record them all. It's late and I must sleep. Suffice to say, the conversation did not go as planned.

And I'm about ready to get the hell out of here.

Debit Cards

Recently, customers using their debit card to make purchases have been finding it difficult to use their cards as credit rather than debit. When they swipe their card, they have to go through a little more fuss (rather confusing to some) in order to skip the pin number step and sign for credit instead. Why would Wal-Mart want to make it more difficult for its customers at the check out line you ask? Easy. Debit purchases save them money.

A credit card purchase can cost Wal-Mart as much as $1 for every transaction because banks charge Wal-Mart (and other businesses) for allowing cutomers to use their cards. It sounds a little absurd, but Wal-Mart can't afford to not do it because they know their sales would plummit would they only accept cash or check as valid forms of payment. (Some smaller businesses still won't accept credit cards, or have a minimum purchase amount [say $5] for using your card. They do this because they couldn't afford the bank charges for every 50 cent purchase.)

Debit card purchases, for reasons I can only speculate on, cost much less, somewhere between 25 and 50 cents per transaction. If Wal-Mart can "trick" people into using their cards as debit rather than credit, they can save maybe 50 cents every transaction. Multiply that by thousands of transactions every day in any store, further multiplied by our 5,000 or so stores, and you start saving truck loads of money.

[Why woud bansk charge less for debit transaction? I would venture to guess that some banks want to encourage use of debit cards because they're ab;e to charge hidden fees for using debit cards for transactions just like they would charge a fee for using the debit card at certain ATMs. Maybe there are other reaons, too. I'm not all that bright, but I'm sure you might be able to think of one or two more.]

So next time those debit pin numbers pop up at Wal-Mart, make sure you let them know you want to use your card as credit. It can still be done; it's just takes an extra step or two. Don't get lazy and let us off the hook though. And if at all possible, use your credit card to purchase a candy bar or apple. Any credit card purchase less than 75 cents will make us lose money.

Do your part.