# What does "Code Pink" mean at WalMart? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946 "2006-07-18T00:18:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/1 "2006-07-18T00:18:06Z")
I was looking for a new desk at Wal-Mart, and I asked a fellow if he could find a specific model for me at another store. I waited about 10 minutes, milling about, and finally went to find him. I found him at a counter where several other Wal-Mart employees were, and while I was getting the update from him, another fellow came up and said to a female employee: “CODE PINK! CODE PINK! That’s the one I was looking at before! I thought she’d left!” I had the distinct impression that he was talking about me, though I didn’t acknowledge that I’d overheard. What does Code Pink mean, Wal-Mart styles? Is it good or bad? Or neutral? ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/2 "2006-07-18T00:22:46Z")
“Code Pink” was from the movie The People vs Larry Flynt and it meant that the big man was in the house, the boss was on deck. That is the only thing I got. I just asked my mom who used to work there and she had never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/3 "2006-07-18T00:27:29Z")
I can’t find a Code Pink but here are the rest of them: Code ADAM - we all know, is for a missing child Code Blue - bomb Code Red - Fire Code Orange - Chemical Spill Code Black - weather warning Code Green - Hostage Situation Code C - Customer Service (I was right!!) Sometimes used, when cashiers needed Code 10 - Dry Spill Code 20 - Wet Spill Code 90 - Management Code 300 - Security Store # - Backup needed… (all male employees and security) [http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=45998](http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=45998) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/4 "2006-07-18T00:31:44Z")
Here is an update: [http://whatthebeans.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-really-am-geek.html](http://whatthebeans.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-really-am-geek.html) “I had a friend who worked at Wal-Mart for a bit, and he told me they used to have internal codes for mundane things… so they could talk about people in front of them. “Code Pink” is their way of saying there’s a good-looking woman in the area. Maybe it was you? Maybe YOU are a “Code Pink”?? The Wal-Mart employees are so adorable when they code their compliments.” ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/5 "2006-07-18T00:40:53Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Here is an update: > > [http://whatthebeans.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-really-am-geek.html](http://whatthebeans.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-really-am-geek.html) Wait, you got that info from CarlyJay’s website? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/6 "2006-07-18T00:46:34Z")
> [@Cagey Drifter](#): > > Wait, you got that info from CarlyJay’s website? Oops, that is a first. The answer sounds reasonable to me though. Code Pink isn’t an official one. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/7 "2006-07-18T01:38:51Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Here is an update: > > [http://whatthebeans.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-really-am-geek.html](http://whatthebeans.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-really-am-geek.html) > > “I had a friend who worked at Wal-Mart for a bit, and he told me they used to have internal codes for mundane things… so they could talk about people in front of them. “Code Pink” is their way of saying there’s a good-looking woman in the area. Maybe it was you? Maybe YOU are a “Code Pink”?? The Wal-Mart employees are so adorable when they code their compliments.” Pics, please. ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/8 "2006-07-18T01:45:19Z")
> [@Spartydog](#): > > Pics, please. LOL! See, that’s why I’m asking. Because I originally posed the question on my blog (before I was a Doper) and received one “maybe” response… I figured if any forum can discover the for-sure answer, it’s the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/9 "2006-07-18T04:07:03Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Code C - Customer Service (I was right!!) Sometimes used, when > cashiers needed > Code 10 - Dry Spill > Code 20 - Wet Spill > Code 90 - Management > Code 300 - Security > Store # - Backup needed… (all male employees and security) These are all a store-level thing, also, or they maybe used to be official. At our store, we don’t use any of those, but we do add the unofficial “Code 15” or “Code 60” occasionally if we want to mess up a new person. (They mean “I’m going on break” or " I’m going on lunch," respectively.) ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/10 "2006-07-18T08:40:11Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Maybe it was you? Maybe YOU are a “Code Pink”?? The Wal-Mart employees are so adorable when they code their compliments." Based on that blog picture, I’m sure we at Little Caesar’s years ago would have put out a call for an “oven check” while you waited for your pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/11 "2006-07-18T08:48:31Z")
At the restaurant I worked at someone would have said “rolls up”. As always, the goal is to keep it innocuous for everybody else but quite explicit to you and your coworkers. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/12 "2006-07-18T12:59:18Z")
There is also a code for “Media/TV Reporter on the Premises”. Tells you a lot about Wally-Mart. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/13 "2006-07-18T13:10:21Z")
To me, [Code Pink](http://codepink4peace.org/) has always meant a group of peace activists. The other stuff comes as a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![leandroc76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@leandroc76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leandroc76)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/14 "2006-07-18T13:12:13Z")
uh… yeah, your a smoking hot redhead… “code pink”… you don’t have to work at Walmart to decrypt that! Did I mention your absolutely georgous. {code pink, people! code pink!} ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/15 "2006-07-18T14:13:27Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > At the restaurant I worked at someone would have said “rolls up”. As always, the goal is to keep it innocuous for everybody else but quite explicit to you and your coworkers. At my former workplace, our code for shirking work was “I’m going to Tech Area 31.” See, every building on the property was coded by tech area, but there was no TA31. The “31” was the clue that meant, “I’m going to Baskin-Robbins”. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/16 "2006-07-18T16:39:40Z")
That reminds me of another “in-house” signal I heard of. Many years ago, Mr. brown and another employee of his engineering firm had to go to a client’s factory to “field-check” some piping facilities. The other employee was a very handsome young latino man who in fact was enough of a looker to do modeling work on the side. The factory was a tuna cannery, which employed a lot of latina women who filleted and cleaned the cooked fish. When said good-looking guy entered the factory, Mr. brown noticed that the women were signaling to each other by quietly tapping the butts of their knives on their cutting boards, and nodding subtly in the direction of the young man. The target didn’t pick upon it at all, although he was puzzled by the sudden noise of tapping. Mr. brown kept mum and didn’t clue him in. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/17 "2006-07-18T17:13:00Z")
At McDonalds (c. 1979-84), we would ask for a “cheese call on _x_, please,” (where _x_ = the till at which the attractive customer was being served). Legitimate “cheese calls” were actually to see how many burgers out of a run of 6 or 12 needed to be cheeseburgers. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/18 "2006-07-18T18:33:50Z")
> [@leandroc76](#): > > uh… yeah, your a smoking hot redhead… [snip] > > [snip/] Did I mention your absolutely georgous. Oh my! Seconded! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/19 "2006-07-18T18:46:09Z")
A’s call at Little Caesars years ago was to rate the girl and use an oven number they didn’t have… so, an “8 pie on 3” was an 8 girl, come check her out. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946/20 "2006-07-18T21:13:15Z")
The Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University offers a free escort service (no, not THAT kind of escort service) for students going from place to place on campus who feel they might need some protection (usually late at night, for students going home after working in computer labs or what not). Each time a request for an escort was called in, an ROTC cadet armed with a walkie talkie and a smokey the bear hat would go forth to protect the fair maiden from all the ne’er do wells out there (it’s funny because it apparantly works). Once he met up with the person he was escorting, he’d radio back to let the guardroom know. In reply he’d get some innocuous question, such as “Hey, we’re about to order pizza, what kind of toppings do you want?” or “What’s the weather look like tonight?” and the response back would be a code to describe the girl. IIRC, Pepperoni meant she was cute, anchovies or Canadian bacon were differing grades of undesireableness, supreme meant you had found one of the two girls on campus who had posed for Playboy, etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-code-pink-mean-at-walmart/364946.md?page=2)