Throw Bags at It

Today I discovered why I don't like WalMart. I have often complained of the shoddy service, lackadaisical attitude of the workers and been shocked by reports of the WalMart corporation's insensitivity to their employees needs. All this has kept me away from WalMart for years.

Today I went to WalMart for a prescription because it was cheap. The same prescription available at CVS for $22.50 and at Walgreen for $9.99 I purchased today for $4.00.

There was no extra expense in checking out the prices at CVS or Walgreen. Both are within minutes of my home and I drop in fairly regularly. So, the trip to WalMart was made worth my while as I used the restroom and bought groceries while waiting 30 minutes for my prescription to be filled.

I had to stop the checkout person from putting my five items into three bags. Well, four if you count the package of Charmin toilet paper rolls. And I do. I told the checkout person clearly, in English, not to double bag my stuff. It was already double bagged when I mentioned this. She then proceeded to grab an additional bag. No, I repeated. Just one bag, please. I unwrapped the egg carton from a separate bag and placed it in the now single bag. Then she asked if I wanted to have a bag for my tp. No. I mean, really. It's already bagged in strong plastic. No point in adding a layer. It's not like I'm going to sail it over the ocean or anything.

Next I walked over to pharmacy to pick up my prescription. The clerk, noticing my tp, asked if she should ring up my "tissue." I explained I had already paid for it. She put my prescription, already in a paper bag, into another bag. I got my receipt out of that bag and then put the prescription in the one plastic bag with my other items and returned the small bag to her. Did I want a bag for my tissue? No, I said, fewer bags, not more. (To make matters worse, the prescription itself comes in a plastic container – a single use, hard case, plastic container. What could be more wasteful?)

So, apparently, throw a bag at it is the WalMart way of offering customer service. I broke all the rules by not taking as many bags as I could possibly grab. To punish me, the greeter at the door asked me to prove I had paid for the tissue by showing my receipt. Uh huh. Right. Next I'll be walking out of WalMart with couches, desks and computers I haven't paid for. As my parting shot, I threw over my shoulder at the security/greeter, "I might have more stuff in my bag that you don't know about." That wiped the smirk off her face.

Anyway, back to why I don't like WalMart. It's the same reason I don't like any large department, mass media, big box store. I get treated like a number and not just a number but a sort of egg that has to fit in a predesigned little box just like all the other eggs. There are massive assumptions in all their gestures: I like and need bags, I can't be trusted, I'm just like everyone else.

This is why I prefer, say, Ellwood Thompson to Kroger. No one at Ellwood Thompson has ever treated me like a number. I am always an unknown quantity to be coddled, asked about preferences and treated as if each visit were the first. And no one throws bags at me.