Potentially my last trip to Walmart last night

[gamecockcat]

Stopped by a nearby WalMart on my way home to pick up a few things (cat litter, napkins, vitamins, etc.). It's one of the Super WMs so it's huge. I stroll around the store picking up several of the things I need. I'm back by the pet area getting cat litter and I move on over to the paper aisles to get napkins. I walk up and down all 4 aisles of paper goods - no napkins. I do it again, slower, to make sure. Still, no napkins. 2,000 sq ft dedicated to paper goods and not one package of napkins anywhere.

So, I look around and spy a WalMart worker in another aisle. I walk over to ask her where the napkins are. She looks a little confused when I ask, "Do you work here?". Thinking she didn't hear me, I ask again, "Do you work here?". She responds in a blizzard of Spanish (which I do not speak but do understand a smattering of it) that she does not speak English!! A worker on the floor of a WalMart in Houston, TX DOES NOT SPEAK ENGLISH! WTF? How did our country come to this? Would you find a worker in a store in Rio De Janeiro that does not speak Portugese? Or one in Hong Kong who doesn't speak Chinese? I do not understand this at all.

Finally, I get in line. I wait.....and wait.....and wait. Almost 30 minutes to pick up about 8 items. Every register had at least 10 people in line and WalMart workers are not the sharpest knives in the drawer or particularly motivated. As I was waiting, I noticed about 75% of people in line were paying with welfare/foodstamp/WIC/etc. cards. Most of the customers looked at best barely above the poverty level. And I thought, "WTF am I doing here?" My time has got to be worth something, right? So, I'm pretty much done with WalMart. This experience along with a recent experience at the one near my office where some thug was brandishing a handgun while 4 other thugs ran their ass off to their car has pretty much eliminated any desire to ever go into a WalMart again.

I used to defend WalMart and shop there a lot. One place to get a bunch of different stuff at reasonable prices. No more. Workers who can't speak English. Customers who are dirty, scummy looking and, in some cases, potentially lethal. Interminable waits at the checkout. All to perhaps save a few bucks? No thanks. I'm done. I used to think that I'm not too good to shop at WalMart. Well, last night changed that opinion.

 

[CatsFanGG24]

RIP Walmart

 

[wildcat1973]

The sad thing is that 20-30 years ago, when lines got more than 2-3 customers deep, they ALWAYS opened up a new checking line to make the waits shorter. Sam Walton ran a good store. The customer was almost always right. Can't really say the same for the next generation.

 

[funKYcat75]

So what you're saying is that people who can't speak English shouldn't have jobs. Gotcha.

 

[bbonds]

Kroger(s) or Target...if neither of those have what we need, Amazon Prime. I don't think we've stepped foot in a WM in 5 years.

 

[argubs2]

OP....it's pretty clear to me she was terrified you were going to abduct her and just defaulted to speaking Spanish so you would go away.

She knew that if you thought she didn't speak English, there would be no way for you to believe you could coerce her into willingly following you out to your van.

Actually a really smart play by that employee.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

Remember when Wal-Mart opened and had all this Made in USA stuff? It was like their badge of honor to have so many Made in America products. Now it's all foreign made crap. I refuse to shop at this sweatshop.

 

[Chuckinden]

I stopped going to Walmart on a regular basis years ago. I only go now for items I can't anywhere else and then I dread it like the plague.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

I wouldn't worry about a Walmart stocking clerk not speaking English.

Now, my kids' school bus driver not speaking English, that did trouble me a bit. I guess if one of the kids was choking to death in the back, the other kids could act it out in pantomime...

 

[gamecockcat]

Sometimes, funky, I can't tell if you're being funny, stupid or just antagonistic for the hell of it. I'm not saying that people who can't speak English shouldn't have jobs. I feel certain there are plenty of jobs at WalMart and elsewhere that do not require the worker to interract with the public very often. All I'm saying is that a person who cannot speak or understand English has no business in a customer service position in an English speaking country like the US. Is that so difficult a concept to grasp? In much the same way, I would be a horrible person to work as a bank teller in Mexico City.

 

[domino79]

Hold on now. We all have a little wal mart in us.

 

[gamecockcat]

^LOL. That's funny (and, sadly, too true).

 

[domino79]

I'd be most prone to sporting a mullet, or an overall disheveled, wtf appearance.

 

[Desperado_1955]

Originally posted by bbonds:
Kroger(s) or Target...if neither of those have what we need, Amazon Prime. I don't think we've stepped foot in a WM in 5 years.

My game plan exactly, especially Amazon Prime. Get it as cheap if not cheaper, and it only takes two days to get it. Of course, not for the staples, but anything else, and I'll usually get it via the web. I detest Walmart.

 

[LordEgg]

did big lots sponsor this thread?

 

[ThroughBlue]

Originally posted by JasonSpear:
I only go to sit and stare at the poors, throw some bird seed at em.

Damn them poors

 

[AustinTXCat]

Originally posted by gamecockcat:
. Workers who can't speak English. Customers who are dirty, scummy looking and, in some cases, potentially lethal. Interminable waits at the checkout. All to perhaps save a few bucks? .

You have a rant. The web has a perfect site: People of Walmart.

Enjoy.

 

[TankedCat]

a combination of bad economy and wal-mart have caused 4 tire store/oil change places to close up in my small town.

There are 2 left and they are the most expensive by far.

Wal-Mart sucks

I find myself spending alot more at Costco nowadays even though its 12 miles out of the way.

 

[maverick1]

Originally posted by LordEgg:
did big lots sponsor this thread?

 

[Deeeefense]

Old Sam Walton the founder of the company use to walk the isles of his stores and talk to his customers asking them about their shopping experience and how he could do things better. But that was then.

The Walton Family who inherited controlling interest in the company, sat on their asses last year and collected a cool $16 Billion - that's Billion with a B, they are they wealthiest family in America but pay their people poverty wages half of which are on welfare to make ends meet. They have had countless lawsuits filed against them for everything from cheating employees out of money, to discrimination against women to reckless environmental damage. As as mentioned above they have a cavalier attitude towards their customers.

Sam Walton would probably roll over in his grave if he saw what's happened to what he worked hard to build.

Wal-Mart

 

[KyFaninNC]

Originally posted by gamecockcat:
Stopped by a nearby WalMart on my way home to pick up a few things (cat litter, napkins, vitamins, etc.). It's one of the Super WMs so it's huge. I stroll around the store picking up several of the things I need. I'm back by the pet area getting cat litter and I move on over to the paper aisles to get napkins. I walk up and down all 4 aisles of paper goods - no napkins. I do it again, slower, to make sure. Still, no napkins. 2,000 sq ft dedicated to paper goods and not one package of napkins anywhere.

So, I look around and spy a WalMart worker in another aisle. I walk over to ask her where the napkins are. She looks a little confused when I ask, "Do you work here?". Thinking she didn't hear me, I ask again, "Do you work here?". She responds in a blizzard of Spanish (which I do not speak but do understand a smattering of it) that she does not speak English!! A worker on the floor of a WalMart in Houston, TX DOES NOT SPEAK ENGLISH! WTF? How did our country come to this? Would you find a worker in a store in Rio De Janeiro that does not speak Portugese? Or one in Hong Kong who doesn't speak Chinese? I do not understand this at all.

Finally, I get in line. I wait.....and wait.....and wait. Almost 30 minutes to pick up about 8 items. Every register had at least 10 people in line and WalMart workers are not the sharpest knives in the drawer or particularly motivated. As I was waiting, I noticed about 75% of people in line were paying with welfare/foodstamp/WIC/etc. cards. Most of the customers looked at best barely above the poverty level. And I thought, "WTF am I doing here?" My time has got to be worth something, right? So, I'm pretty much done with WalMart. This experience along with a recent experience at the one near my office where some thug was brandishing a handgun while 4 other thugs ran their ass off to their car has pretty much eliminated any desire to ever go into a WalMart again.

I used to defend WalMart and shop there a lot. One place to get a bunch of different stuff at reasonable prices. No more. Workers who can't speak English. Customers who are dirty, scummy looking and, in some cases, potentially lethal. Interminable waits at the checkout. All to perhaps save a few bucks? No thanks. I'm done. I used to think that I'm not too good to shop at WalMart. Well, last night changed that opinion.

How many of those people paying with government assistance had a $500.00 smart phone? Always amazes me how people that NEED tax payer assistance can afford $500.00 phones and $200.00 data plans. They don't work, so why would they need cell phones and data plans?

 

[ganner918]

Originally posted by LordEgg:
did big lots sponsor this thread?

There's a big lots near my house that I stop in every now and then to grab some cheap stuff (generic spices, cans of soup broth, a roasting pan when I didn't need anything good but wanted to cook a big turkey). You see some interesting people in there.

Last year I just needed some TP on the way home one day and stopped at K mart, it was on the way and nearly vacant parking lot so figured I could run in and out. Only two lines open and in both of them people were arguing trying to get 10% off of already cheap as shit stuff over "defects" they saw, I stood there for 5 minutes waiting to check out when there were only the two people at the registers when I got up there.

This post was edited on 2/11 12:27 PM by ganner918

 

[bluelifer]

There are lots of excellent reasons to not shop at Wal-Mart. A Wal-Mart in Tejas that has an employee that speaks Spanish doesn't really make the list if you ask me.

 

[B Rax]

That sounds like literally every trip I've ever made to wal mart in my life. It is truely an awful fluorescent hell. I will pay double at rite aid to avoid wal mart.

 

[UKBrassowTipIN]

Costco is superior and ran much better

 

[gamecockcat]

No problem whatsoever with an employee who speaks Spanish. In TX, as you allude to, it's probably almost a necessity. However, my problem was/is that this employee spoke NO English. None. Seems like a pretty big obstacle to overcome to 'move up the ladder' if you don't even speak or understand the language. And why WalMart would hire someone to walk the floor and 'assist' customers who doesn't speak English is beyond my understanding. Even in Tejas, as you put it, English is the language spoken about 90% of the time in a business setting. Seems like it's only logical that your employees could speak and understand it, too.

And, don't even get me started on voting ballots printed in Spanish (isn't there some citizenship qualification that a citizen must be able to read English?).

 

[B.B.d.K.]

Racist

 

[BreckCo.Wildcat]

Hardinsburg KY has the greatest walmart in the country. Old school small and a bunch of older friendly employees. It closes at night and if you go at 6:30 am when they open you are the only customer.

 

[MoreheadEagle]

Walmart is designed to make your shopping experience a living hell.

Oh, and porch lights on.

 

[TankedCat]

I think everyone should set a goal of not having to shop at Wal-Mart.

Kind of a "I made it moment" when you can afford to shop at a place where people don't wear pajamas when they buy a TV or ask which electric shopping cart is the fastest.

 

[sg24]

I had to go there last night when Kroger did not have what I needed. Horrible place to go.

 

[Pope John Wall II]

Originally posted by UKBrassowTipIN:
Costco is superior and ran much better

Better quit supporting them god damn libruls by shopping at CostCo

 

[ukalumni00]

Love how my tax dollars is spent so wisely in that crap hole.

 

[TankedCat]

Originally posted by Pope John Wall II:

Originally posted by UKBrassowTipIN:
Costco is superior and ran much better

Better quit supporting them god damn libruls by shopping at CostCo

I know you're probably joking but I had someone give me a blast of shit the other day for shopping there because of the stance the CEO or whatever took on some positions.

I told him I'd happily shop at a place that provided what I consider high quality food items and goods at a price point I'm comfortable with while they pay their employees a decent wage for retail work - regardless of what political leaning their CEO has.

 

[bluelifer]

Are you insinuating that stocking the shelves at Wal Mart is a "business setting"?

I get that it may have been a little odd for you to encounter someone that doesn't speak English dust-mopping the aisles of a department store in Texas, I'm just not sure it would be reason enough for me to quit shopping there.

Reasons to not shop at Wal Mart

1. They run mom and pop stores out of town
2. They don't pay their employees a living wage
3. They don't sell as many American made products as they once did
4. Most of their products are poorly made
...

17. They never have enough check out lanes open
....

56. Skanks shop there

...

...

...

5,879. They have an employee that doesn't speak English.

 

[Mime-Is-Money]

Originally posted by gamecockcat:
As I was waiting, I noticed about 75% of people in line were paying with welfare/foodstamp/WIC/etc. cards. Most of the customers looked at best barely above the poverty level. And I thought, "WTF am I doing here?"

If you go back just one sentence then you have the answer to which you seek.

 

[Mime-Is-Money]

Where do angry white honks shop for cheap junk made my Chinese and Mexican slave labor these days if Wal Mart is on the out?

 

[jcrow10]

Originally posted by ukalumni00:
Love how my tax dollars is[/B] spent so wisely in that crap hole.

We obviously need better education for you and the poors.

 

[BankerCat12]

I had the same experience at the WM in Juarez. The worker in aisle 6 that happens to have the napkins, paper towels, etc did not speak English. WTF? The line issue though is not a problem. Moved very quickly.

 

[We-Todd-Did]

Originally posted by TankedCat:

Originally posted by Pope John Wall II:

Originally posted by UKBrassowTipIN:
Costco is superior and ran much better

Better quit supporting them god damn libruls by shopping at CostCo

I know you're probably joking but I had someone give me a blast of shit the other day for shopping there because of the stance the CEO or whatever took on some positions.

I told him I'd happily shop at a place that provided what I consider high quality food items and goods at a price point I'm comfortable with while they pay their employees a decent wage for retail work - regardless of what political leaning their CEO has.

I've heard some of that and I agree: I say shop there to support the business model, not as some political statement.

Read somewhere that their average pay is nearly double that of Walmart and their average length of full time employment is something like 7 years. They have career employees, not kids with a job.