3.13.2008

this world is for the takers

this morning after dropping lexi off for grooming, nash and i headed to wal-mart to pick up some much-needed grocery stock. nash has been having a rough week from his sickness and apparent possession by some evil spirit. yesterday he literally cried (if you know his cries i'll specify: his squawking cry {the most annoying one that gets under your skin}) all day. he took a twenty minute break to sip his jamba juice and it was the only smile i saw all day. never have i been so excited to go to work! anyway, it was a rough few nights and days with little sleep. back to wal-mart. so we fill our cart and head to the check-out. have you seen that new wal-mart commercial about their new initiative to have more open lanes so you can spend time with your family (it's super cheesy)? well, it's not true. at least not at the 1300 S walmart in slc. there was one-ONE!-regular lane open and three speedy check-out lanes. when you have a grocery cart full to the brim the speedy check-out just doesn't cut it. so i got in the regular line behind a lady with three-THREE!-full shopping carts. a few people in the same situation as i was got in line behind me, grumbling. i smiled and told them the checker was going surprisingly fast (i.e. i was nice and tried to diffuse the situation since the wal-mart employees were making no such effort).

finally, the three CSM's standing in the back gossiping took note of the situation and opened another lane. now, i'm the kind of person that actually waits 8 feet back from the customer in front of me at the pharmacy (like the sign about HIPPA privacy laws says to do). i'm the kind of person that waits at the bank until asked to approach the counter. i'm the kind of person that waits for the cashier opening her lane to turn on her light or othewise announce her readiness to take the next shopper. but the ladies behind me? ooooh, no. as i tried to maneuver my cart around the lady in front of me (remember she had three carts?), the lady behind me shoved-and i mean SHOVED/RACED/JOLTED-to the register. the lady behind her did the same. i gasped and told nash "there are a lot of rude people in the world, nashy-boy. we're not like them." and began to cry as i watched the lady who blazed past me hurrying to shove all her groceries on the conveyor belt as if in a panic. so there i was standing in line at wal-mart crying my eyes out. the worst part was that i really don't think those ladies had any notion of how rude and hurtful they were.

sometimes i wish i was naive and ignorant and could just breeze through life without a care for anyone. fortunately my parents raised to me think of others and i think i do a pretty good job of that. i have my volatile moments where i am so blown away by people's actions that i lash out (which usually involves low blows about an overweight body or lack of teeth), but most of the time i keep my cool and move on, each time vowing to be more considerate so that i never make another person feel the way i just had to feel. this world is for the takers, but i'm proud to say that i'm not one of them. i'm much more of a giver.

14 comments:

emilie s. d. p. said...

Terrible!
I have a distinct memory of being in a wal-mart parking lot when I was like 9 and my mom was driving around and around trying to find a spot. Finally she saw someone backing out, she got behind them (with plenty of room to let them back out) and put her blinker on. As the car pulled out of the spot with her rear towards us another car pulled in front of her and took the spot. My mom was SO mad, she literally got out of the car and started yelling at the lady who took our spot leaving all three of us little kids in the car, it was terrifying. She is usually so polite but somehow she just lost it. Looking back I can now understand why. RUDE PEOPLE!

lisset said...

GeeZ! Sounds like you have had a doozy of a week. If we still lived in SLC I would totally be treating you to some homemade baked goods about now. How does pecan caramel rolls sound?
I just have to say that I seriously hated- with a passion- going to the WalMart in Salt Lake. People were always so rude! and the employees rarely seemed like they could give a darn.You really have to prepare yourself for a trip to WallyWorld. Sad.

{lizzythebotanist} said...

mmmm...i love pecans.

Michelle said...

This is exactly why I hate shopping at Walmart. It seems something like this happens every time.

Vanessa said...

Dude!!! I would have flipped out on those ladies. Oh, I hate Wal-Mart for never having enough cashiers!

{lizzythebotanist} said...

it seems everyone thinks i am griping about wal-mart, which wasn't my point at all. i do hate shopping there, but these things happen at any store. even costco-i have several stories from shopping there as well. we'll save those for another post.

Melanie said...

I'm so sorry! And it's not like it's not obvious that you have a toddler and are pregnant! I had an experience similar at Old Navy once -- nothing quite as bad since it never takes that long to get through the Old Navy line, but still. A new cashier opened up another lane and said she would take the next person in line ... which was me. So someone behind me zoomed over there, and I took a bit longer since I actually had a cart or a stroller (don't remember which) so it obviously takes longer than just walking. So here's the question: maybe I was a taker that day, but I told the person who had zoomed there that the cashier had specified she would take the "next" person in line, which was me. The cashier smiled and nodded as the butter just huffed and looked dejected. Well, I didn't care, I'm sorry, maybe I should have. But it was a rude move in the first place and even more rude because I felt like they knew they could be faster than me since they didn't have a kid with them. At least the cashier had said something so I had something to back me up -- it totally sucks in a situation like yours when nothing is said and you're left hanging. I'm sorry it made you cry! But I'm glad little Nashers could see you taking the higher road. And I am glad you at least said something (hopefully loud enough) so they know their rude actions don't go unnoticed.

Alifinale said...

Oh, I hate inconsiderate horrible people. I always think the same thing that I hope I never become someone like that. I especially think when you have a toddler at a grocery store you should get special treatment because who knows how long before they start to cry or throw a tantrum.

Emilie May said...

can't we all just get along? if david archuleta had been playing over the loud speaker, this would never have happened. "imagine..." you know? i'm a big fan of politely setting people straight... like passing them napkins telling them they should at least be discreet about being rude. :)

AlexisTexas said...

i love you so much. i could hear your voice in my head reading this post.
makes me miss you.
sooo obnoxious though, i hear you. i would have been crying behind you, and then as soon as they were gone i would think of something absolutely perfectly clever to say to them and stick it right to them-of course just too late! prob better since i would never have the guts to say it directly to their face anyhow...
love you-sometimes it sucks to be the nice people in the world getting stepped on every once in a while (learned it from our amazing kindhearted fathers right?) nash and haven are so blessed to have an amazing mother like you to teach them to be a nice one too!

DC United said...

Walmart. Enough said. I know you've got stories from Costco...and that these types of events aren't specific to "Satan's Playground" (yes, I have strong feelings about Sam Wahl's mega-store) but seriously, the percentage of incidents is much higher at Walmart than at other stores. I won't wax philosophical as to why I believe that's the case...but still. FREAKIN' WALMART! Sorry that bee-atch made you weepy.

Harmony said...

I hate it when people do that. Sometimes the cashiers don't help by inviting the last person in line to join the new line, when they should be inviting the first.

Steph said...

I don't have much more to say than everyone else...I just wanted to give my sympathies. You didn't deserve to be treated that way.

Mel said...

dude I know, some people are awful! I do my best as well not to be one of them. I'm glad to hear you are too. :D miss you