Walmart, now an American icon has its fans as well as its antagonists. I fall somewhere in the middle of this. I do like to support the local businesses, but I also like the convenience of being able to purchase almost everything I need in one place at a low cost.
To me the best thing about Walmart is that anything goes. I've been at walmart in formal attire, Pajama pants, in slippers 9 months pregnant, and with a newborn screaming. I've been there with no makeup on at 7am and I've been there dressed to go out with friends at midnight. Walmart is the epitome of the phrase "come as you are." The one place that I know there will always be the fewest stares and whispers is at Walmart.
My kids love trips to Walmart. When we make a trip to Mitchell and don't stop at Walmart as we drive by to leave town Joshua will actually cry and mutter about wanting to stop there. Joshua loves the entire experience. From the bright fluorescent lights to the hustle and bustle of other shoppers, he is in love from the moment we are greeted at the door to last few seconds when he listens for his loud voice echoing in the empty entry way as we wheel the cart through the automatic doors back to the parking lot.
Joshua is very much an organizer so he delights in arranging and rearranging the groceries in the cart while I shop. Jonas loves to watch the people pass by the cart and stop and say hi to 'the cute baby'. He thoroughly enjoys being ooohhh-ed and ahhh-ed over. Jonas can put on a pretty good show when someone pops over to take a peek at him. He usually gooos a few times, flashes a smile and gives a giggle. By this time Joshua has noticed that he is hogging the attention and begins his own set of tricks. "hi lady," he says "Oh , and what's your name cute little boy?" "Josh -ooo-aaa." " Ooooh aren't you cute." "Tank you." This only last a few seconds but it's not long before someone else is stopping and the whole thing begins again.
The Cookie. This may be the highlight of the Walmart stop. If your mother is willing to stop by the bakery dept. you could receive an m&m cookie. Joshua lives for the cookie. We always start our shopping at the back of the store and move closer to the front as we go down the aisles. The closer we get to the bakery the louder the whispers of "cookie time" get. When the lady brings the cookie over to the cart Joshua inevitably squeals with joy and says, "tank you tank you tank you tank you!"
When we have finally finished all of our shopping and Joshua has helped load the conveyor belt with our purchases, when we have paid and said goodbye to the check out person, we head to entry way where Joshua always lets out a good loud "UH!" and listens as it echos through the emptiness.
Yesterday when I buckled him back into his car seat Joshua leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek, "tank you mom." Boy, does that kid love Walmart. And in a lot of ways I do too. There's no where else you can have a baby crying, a toddler throwing up in the cart and still not be the craziest family there.
I have a new appreciation for Wal-Mart after being couped up in a hospital room for a week. There truly was so much excitement going on. I especially like the invalids who are in the motorized scooters. Secretly, they believe they are Hell's Angels as head toward you with their scooters going at full tilt. One of the neatest things we saw was the 27 varieties of Mrs. Dash. They've probably been there in the spice aisle for years but I've never noticed them until now. When I was a little boy, my mommy would take me shopping with her and I used to get a handful of cherries from Frank Picchioni, Sr., who ran the store. His hands were bigger than mine so I always let him hand me the cherries rather than trying to reach them myself. We learn a lot when we are young.
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