# Tell me about WalMart **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863 "2013-05-20T20:16:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/61 "2013-05-23T15:46:03Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > The trophy wife of one of my wealthy friends had an interesting quote about Wal Mart. > > When we mentioned buying something there, she looked concerned, and said: “Oh, I never shop _there_. That’s where all the broken people go.” And you can get a really great price on them when they show up in the discount bin! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/62 "2013-05-23T16:11:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’d always wondered about that site or the meme, too. Everyone at the closest Walmart looks like a normal subsection of the population, except maybe more kids than usual. I found out from my cousin that some parents just drive their kid to Walmart and drop them off for a few hours to give them something to do out of the house. Eh, this has been going on forever, and not just at WalMart. When I was in high school, about 40 years ago, all the cool kids hung out at the mall, not shopping, just window shopping, talking to friends, and engaging in a little shoplifting if they were feeling really edgy. There are still malls, and still mall rats, but the big box stores are also places where kids gather to hang out. For that matter, parents will drop kids off at libraries or just about any public place. Sometimes the kids know how to behave themselves, sometimes they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/63 "2013-05-23T20:54:51Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > Only twice in all my many trips in to Walmart have I seen anyone dressed as bizarrely as on the People of Walmart website, and that was in stores in affluent neighborhoods. The Walmarts around here are almost all newer stores and are clean, well-stocked and well-staffed. One store has been having some huge staffing problems apparently because the shelves are often empty and theailes sometimes strewn with merchandise. But it is also the only store in downtown Cleveland, and the grocery side is always pristine. There is no Walmart Downtown… 😕 Unless you are referring to the Steelyard Commons one? ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/64 "2013-05-23T23:19:13Z")
I like WalMart and shop there a lot. I don’t normally see anyone too outrageous there. The funniest thing I have seen at a WalMart was a van with a full size room air conditioner mounted in the back door. They had cut out a section of the door and fit it right in there. I wish I had taken a picture. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/65 "2013-05-24T00:21:47Z")
Weirdest people I’ve ever seen weren’t at WalMart but rather Micro Center. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/66 "2013-05-24T00:23:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [People of Wal-Mart](http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/photos/) > > (Possibly NSFW.) > > They are often known as ‘Wal-Martians’. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > **Certainly made AVG throw a threat warning.** Specifically a backdoor exploit. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/67 "2013-05-24T02:16:53Z")
53 checkout lanes. 3 open Check. Anybody you see working there with a full set of teeth has a vendor ID? Check. Restocking takes 82 pallet jacks and enough pallets to tilt a aircraft carrier? Check. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/68 "2013-05-24T02:31:24Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > . . . > Anybody you see working there with a full set of teeth has a vendor ID? > > Check. > > . . . That’s harsh. They are working. What would you rather have them do? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/69 "2013-05-24T04:03:16Z")
> [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](#): > > That’s harsh. They are working. What would you rather have them do? Floss? Hey, it was teed up, had to go there. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/70 "2013-05-24T13:04:26Z")
> [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](#): > > That’s harsh. They are working. What would you rather have them do? I was remarking on WalMarts tendency to NOT HAVE real employees–they outsource everything, and nobody realy works for them. And good gods managment, would it kill you to have a few people running the registers to, you know, TAKE MY MONEY??? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/71 "2013-05-24T15:35:33Z")
There are two WMs near me. One was the site where some nutjob ran in with a gun and shot and killed a cop who was moonlighting as a security guard. It’s a standard Super WM, and it’s kept very clean. It’s massive and spacious, and short of the lines, a relatively decent shopping experience. I don’t typically grocery shop, as our local grocer is really great and I love their store brand. But I will get staples and fresh produce there. I do feel guilty because their stuff is so cheap, I know someone down the line is getting shafted. The clientele is mostly (seemingly) middle- to low-income, lots of folks of color, immigrant families. The store is fine, but the parking lot is full of tricked out cheap econo-boxes with ridiculous sound systems. Every other car is a huge SUV of some kind. So parking can invoke headaches. The other WM is in a redeveloped shopping center and is supposed to be more upscale. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/72 "2013-05-28T23:06:22Z")
In related news: [Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will pay $81.6 million after pleading guilty on Tuesday to criminal charges of improperly disposing of fertilizer, pesticides and other hazardous products that were pulled from stores in California and Missouri because of damaged packaging and other problems.](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/wal-mart-pleads-guilty-calif-hazardous-waste-19273086#.UaU3p8rOZ8E) ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/73 "2013-07-09T00:55:08Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > … he has been dead for more than 21 years. I think you might have to bury that hatchet sometime. Stranger around these here parts, ain’t ya? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/74 "2013-07-09T01:02:13Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > What did it for me was when I wanted to buy a certain CD and I was told they didn’t carry it because one of the songs had the word _bitch_ in the title. It goes against their moral sensibilities. > > What I have a real problem with is walmart wanting to claim they can’t sell a certain CD because it goes against their Christian morals… > > … to fit in just fine with their Christian values. > > Well, I think that makes them just a bunch of big hypocrites and if you are going to claim to have Christian… > > Their pick and choose attitude towards Christian values offends my moral sensibilities. > > That is when I determined they would never get another penny of my money. I don’t think that WM is particularly evangelical…a lot of people/religions are offended by women being called ‘bitches’. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/75 "2013-07-09T01:48:57Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Over my many years here on The Dope, I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about the infamous WalMart. Since the advent of FB, I also get sent occasional ‘photo albums’ of WalMartians and still continue to gasp and groan about the sheer freakiness of the customers. > > Is it really that bad? Can you go to your local WalMart and **not** encounter a situation or person that makes your eyes roll upwards? Or is the reputation well deserved? > > Gimme the lowdown on WalMart folks! In my area, depends on which WM I go to. The one nearest my apartment is a poorly stocked, messy zoo catering to a very ghetto population. (I use the term “ghetto” to refer to attitude and behavior.) There are others near enough to go to reasonably conveniently that are neat, well stocked, and feature a better class of customer. I find the staff agreeable at all of them, and reality is that a lot of people can’t afford to shop at those oh-so-hip-and-speshul indie places that charge twice as much for half the selection and have staff that act like they’re doing you a favor by condescending to take your filthy lucre. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/76 "2013-07-09T02:00:31Z")
I have encountered people of Walmart at Walmart. I’ve seen a couple of them at Target too when I worked there one year. A lot of it is where the store is situated (neighborhood, industrial park area, easy off the highway) but I think the further south in the US you go, the more likely you are to find the stereotype. No, I’m not putting down the south but up here we bundle up for several months of the year so you don’t get to see all the bad fashion going on under the coat. I do go to Wally World for a few items but generally, I shop at Targe Boutique because it’s what I’ve been doing since I was a wee one and they opened the first Target mere blocks from my home. ---
**Author:** ![Tracijo67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@Tracijo67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracijo67)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/77 "2013-07-09T02:19:41Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Here’s the thing- there are thousands of Wal-Marts all over the world, and likely millions of people visit these Wal-Marts at all hours of the day and night. > > How many weirdos end up on the website? Not really that many, if you consider the sheer numbers we’re talking about. You could probably end up with a similar number of weirdly dressed kooks if you had people do the same thing at McDonalds or Target or any other national chain store. > > All that being said, and Wal-Mart does seem to be a magnet for the sketchy low-income demographic- both white, black and hispanic. If you ever wanted to know what low income people wear and how they behave, go hang out at Wal Mart. > > But for the most part, these people aren’t the ones on the website, just everyday customers who may seem kind of strange and foreign to the rest of us. Yeah, I’m nowhere close to low income. Husband and I are both Master’s level college graduates with professional careers. And when I shop at Wal-Mart, most of the time I’m wearing baggy sweats, a loose t-shirt, and flip-flops. No make-up, hair pulled back. I’m sure that I look ‘sketchy’ and ‘low income’. I’m also certain that I don’t give a flying fuck. I’m there to buy household products and garden supplies, not impress others with my affuence. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/78 "2013-07-09T02:39:45Z")
It depends. The WM in one of my former neighborhoods is tidy,carries some more mainstream / upscale brands in addition to the bargain stuff and has a certified kosher meat counter and bakery. The WM in the urban neighborhood in a depressed part of the city, where I lived before moving to my current address was unkempt, dirty and you did see folks like the ones who populate the People of WalMart site. In the WM here in the small town just outside of the city where I now live, you’re apt to see anyone. In the WM in the depressed small town in the hills where my brother used to live, it was where everybody went because it was the only game in town. It was dirty, understocked and smelled like vinegar, pee and cigarette smoke. The corporate folk at WM know their demographic wherever they build and run the stores accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/79 "2013-07-09T03:22:26Z")
Few people in my state smoke, and even fewer in the part where I live. Of the few who do smoke, hardly anyone smokes indoors or in their cars. In the Wal-Mart nearest me, in a walk through the parking lot you will encounter piles of cigarette butts. I never see this anywhere else. So, Wal-Mart is the store of choice for people who smoke in their cars. I’ve also seen full diapers in the parking lot. ---
**Author:** ![flapflip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@flapflip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapflip)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863/80 "2013-07-09T06:05:52Z")
“Tulsa police arrested a woman for attempting to make meth inside a Walmart store” > **[The Saddest Woman Ever to Fail to Cook Meth in a Walmart](https://www.gawker.com/5866633/the-saddest-woman-ever-to-fail-to-cook-meth-in-a-walmart)** > > Here's your bleak and/or infuriating tale of mortally dangerous desperation of the day: Tulsa police arrested a woman for attempting to make meth inside a Walmart store yesterday. Elizabeth Elisha Halfmoon was in the store for six hours. When police... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-walmart/658863.md?page=5)