This afternoon at WalMart, I decided to try the self checkout lane. I didn't have that many items, and the regular checkouts were busy, so what the heck, right?
Let me tell you, they are not as fun as they look. It took me twice as long to check out as it would have if I had stood in line and checked out in a regular lane! I used to be a cashier at WalMart, and I know what I'm doing. Apparently, most folks don't know what they're doing when it comes to running a register because after scanning each individual item, the screen would prompt you to "please place item in bag", and would not let me scan the next item until a resonable (according to the computer) amount of time had passed, at which time it would prompt you to scan the next item.
Now, while you are waiting for the computer to tell you that it was time to scan the next item, you technically could press the "skip bagging" button on the screen. This would produce a "waiting for approval from a customer service manager" prompt that didn't clear until a CSM cleared you to skip the baggin process.
I am not kidding, it took me fifteen minutes to check out a total of ten items!
WalMart Self Checkouts - Friend or Foe?
The Walmart Zone
While at Walmart yesterday, I noticed something odd. It made me wonder if there was something I didn't know about that maybe I should.
In the dairy department, I became aware of the fact that the egg section was eerily empty. All the shelves were bare, except for a few stray cartons scattered about, upside down and all askew. People shopping for eggs were rummaging through the measly stock looking for a carton that didn't contain broken shells. It was difficult to find any.
Now, knowing that Easter is this weekend, eggs being out of stock didn't seem so unusual. It just seemed odd that no one had bothered to straighten up the shelves, or even clean up the broken eggs.
I managed to find a carton of eggs that had surprisingly been spared, and continued on my way.
Soda was the next thing on my list and I headed down that aisle. Upon entering the aisle, I saw that these shelves were bare also. Just about every single bottle, case, and gallon of water was gone! Anyone looking to buy water would have been hard pressed to find any.
I began wondering if there was something I didn't know that everyone else did. Like some end of the world, natural disaster type of thing. No one else seemed in a panic. Why would all the water be gone too? Is there some sort of sickness going around that causes people to crave eggs and be extremely thirsty? I began to think that the lack of eggs wasn't because of Easter.
Am I too suspicious? Do I need to get a life that consists of more than TV and Internet? Have I been watching too many sci-fi movies?
The answer to these questions is probably yes. But imagine......what if?
Happy Stinkin' New Year!
When it rains, it pours. My youngest was diagnosed with pneumonia day before yesterday. The doctor put him on antibiotics, and he's doing a little better today.
Now, after a visit to WalMart this evening, my two youngest are throwing up and both have diarrhea. The culprit? I believe it was some individually sold string cheese. They went from feeling fine, to stomach cramps and throwing up within minutes of each other. Then the diarrhea. Neither one has a fever.....yet. The string cheese is the only thing I can think of that they ate that we didn't.
I called WalMart to let them know my suspicions, but of course there's not a whole lot they can do. The manager said he would check the cheese in question and make sure the dates are all good. But, until someone else complains, they won't be doing much else. I told him that the date on the packages were fine, not outdated until March of this year.
What to do now? I guess I'll wait until tomorrow morning and see how they are. I know from experience that food poisoning isn't something to mess with. My daughter had e-coli food poisoning when she was about two years old. She had to be hospitalized for three days until it passed. What worries me too, is my youngest. If he's not able to keep anything down by morning, I can't get his antibiotics in him for the pneumonia.
*Sigh*
I feel so helpless. It has NOT been a very good start to the new year.
