My recent trip to Walmart turned out to be quite an unexpected adventure, all thanks to an encounter with one of the store’s employees. As I stood there scanning and bagging my nearly $300 worth of groceries, I found myself in a strange situation that both confused and amused me.
It all started when I was approached by a Walmart worker who was vocal about demanding a minimum wage of $15 an hour. Let’s call her “She” for simplicity. He seemed to be on a mission and that mission was to investigate my bagging technique.
Why do you wrap all your groceries twice, Her?
Please excuse me.
You’re wasting our bags, Her!
Me: Feel free to come here and pack the goods yourself if you don’t like how I pack them.
She – it’s not my responsibility!
Me: If it’s okay with you, I’ll pack my groceries however I want.
Why are you using two bags, Her?
I — because I don’t want the handles to break or the bottoms to rip out and the bags are fragile.
She said, “Well, that’s because you stuff the sack too full.” If you took half of these things out and put them in a new bag, you wouldn’t have to pack twice.
I just stared at her for ten seconds.
Me: So to save you from having to double bag, you want me to split these products in half and put half of them in another bag?
exact — from her.
I would still need two bags to store the same amount of goods, so I would.
Her reply was, “No, because you wouldn’t take double bags.” *I tried to stop the twitching in my left eye by putting two fingers on it.
Me: “Okay, so here I have a two-bag milk jug and a juice bottle.” Even if I take out the milk, remove the double packaging and simply put the juice and milk in the same bag, I will still be using two bags for those two items.
Her response was, “No, you don’t pack them twice, so it’s not the same amount of bags.”
*I look around at the ten or so other patrons who are just joining in on the fun.
I keep hearing about Common Core math, is it similar?
Her- forget it; you just don’t understand.
She then went back to her little stage to continue texting, using her phone to play games, or whatever she was doing before she decided to come and comment on my bagging skills.
Eventually, she seemed frustrated by my apparent lack of understanding and returned to her little podium, presumably to resume her earlier activities, which may have included texting, playing games on her phone, or simply waiting for the next shopper to criticize…
The encounter left me with a mixture of amusement and amusement, and I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I bagged my groceries and made my way to the checkout. It was a reminder that sometimes even the most unexpected moments can turn routine shopping into an unforgettable and fun experience.
As I left the store, I couldn’t help but wonder if her bagging philosophy would continue to confuse shoppers, or if it was just a unique encounter. Either way, it was a story worth sharing, and I couldn’t wait to regale my friends and family with the tale of the Walmart poaching conundrum.