I didn't realize I'd have so much to write about, but unfortunatly due to some issues with my 14 year old car and the fact my sick cat was out of wet food, I had to go to walmart again today.  I had to hunt for a parking spot that wasn't in the next county, but finally settled on the next county. 

I walked through the doors on the side closest to the automotive section (not the tire and lube entrance though) and tried to grab a cart...except they were all covered in something resembling filth.  I say resembling filth because I think filth was cleaner than what was on the carts.  The carts that weren't covered in what my wife and I refer to as "Fung" were all taunting me with their lopsided baskets and their broken, free-spinning wheels.

I finally found an acceptable cart and got my shopping done.  Except for an occasional customer who plows through an intersection without checking to see who's coming, there were no incidents.  I approached the checkouts closest to my exit, but lo and behold - ONLY THE SELF CHECKOUTS WERE OPEN.  That's right...no staffed checkout lanes to accomidate the people who can't handle the admittedly sometimes cantankerous technology.  The lines were naturally backed up to the merchandise aisles with customers pushing full carts trying to use the self checkouts.  I started walking...

Midway to the other entrance, I found a single cashier in the cigarrette section who was checking out about 6 customers each with full carts...I kept walking.

The other entrance was no different, except there were no people here.  There were plenty of self checkout lanes available, but I guess I just happened to find it empty.  It just goes to show you that adopting the herd mentality and falling in line behind others doesn't pay off.  Actually, I'm thinking that normally leads to a slaughterhouse...

Anyway, once I found the open checkout spot it was smooth sailing.  I don't understand walmart sometimes.  Why would they let customers endure long lines when other checkouts were available at the other end of the store?  Why would you have a total of 1 cashier on duty, and then only in the cigarrette section when you obviously have enough business - judging from the full parking lot - to justify having 3 or 4 more?

Was I terribly inconvenienced...no.  Did I wind up annoyed?  Well, from what you've read, you already know the answer is a resounding yes.  Nasty, broken carts + inadequate staffing + dumb customers + dodgy technology = +1 for Walmart Experience.

Craig 2, Walmart Experience 1

Tomorrow, they're supposed to release the opinion on the 2nd Amendment so I'll be posting some thoughts on a couple of interesting Supreme Court cases I've been watching. 

I walked down to Wal-mart today on my lunch break with my friend from work.  I returned a pair of jeans I bought a couple of weeks ago, which counts as interacting with the Wal-mart Experience Engine.  The return was quick and easy, despite not having a receipt.  There was initially a bit of a line, but someone noticed a line was stacking up and came up to the Customer Service Desk and broke the line down quickly.  They put the return money on a wal-mart gift card (perfectly acceptable since I didn't have my receipt) and I was on my way.

Craig 2, Wal-mart Experience 0

People who've followed my blog (or my conversations) know that I despise going to Wal-mart and would gladly choose Target whenever possible.  I've always stated "I'd rather pay a few pennies more at Target than have to deal with Wal-mart raising my blood pressure".

Unfortunatly, I don't live near a Target, and I can walk from my job to a Wal-mart during my lunch break so I find myself going to Wal-mart more often than I'd care to admit.  This got me thinking today - do I really hate Wal-mart that much, or am I letting a few bad experiences color my impression.  Surely I've had bad experiences with Target too?  Plus, with a baby on the way I'm going to probably start paying more attention to "a few pennies more".

Starting today, I'll be running a new feature called "Craig vs. the Walmart Experience".  It works like this:

Each time I go to Wal-mart, I'll write a brief entry on what, if anything, made my visit annoying or pleasant.  If I have a positive experience, that's 1 for me.  If I have a negative experience, that's 1 for the Walmart Experience. 

Please note, I'm not tracking whether Wal-mart is bad.   There are so many factors involved that I can't possibly comment about how bad Wal-mart is, except for when I worked at the one in Greenville...that was too bizarre.  I believe the Wal-mart Experience is a perfect storm of dumb customers, unmotivated employees, and insufficient staffing.  It has little to do with Wal-mart as a juggernaut, and much more to do with how individual stores are managed based on the guidance given to them by their home office.

I wanted to start today because, much like in windows solitare, I wanted to save my score while I was up.  Today's trip was pleasant because it was entirely uneventful.  I went through the self-checkout with a handful of items, I didn't have to stand in line because most of the other people were using the properly staffed checkout lanes, and there was no struggle with the self-checkout computer to get out of the store as intended.

Today's score Craig 1, Walmart Experience 0

I'm adding a link in the navigation section which will link back to this post.  The link will keep the running total, but for newcomers, they can click on the link to refer back to this post, where they'll find the rules and explanation.  I plan on running this for at least a year.  I believe I'll find justification for not going to Wal-mart anymore, but I hope I'll be pleasantly surprised.

I was just reading this article on msnbc:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25311529/, and from the start thought the writer is living in la-la land.  The premise is the american "can do" attitude is under assault by outside forces beyond our control.  The truth is, our american ingenuity is under assault by forces from within - which are completly under our control, but we've chosen to do nothing about.

We've had a two party system for so long, we've forgotten how to put anyone else into power.  The two major parties have worked their magic to practically guarantee several things:  1) No other political party is going to get enough face time to gather traction, 2) People are too distracted by "ideological" differences to realize both parties are almost exactly the same, and 3) the american people are divided enough that absolutely nothing of any value can get through congress except spending more money in the guise of bolstering "american interests". 

The major thing eroding american "can-do" is the millions of americans who won't do much of anything.  You can't keep going when most of the people are living off the rest of us.  This is going to get much worse when the baby boomers do retire and finally crush the social security and medicare systems.  The truth is, the US government is such a mess, there may not be any way to fix it.  I've been hearing several musicians suggest maybe it's time to start over...

Before you say "well, those guys are just hippies", bear in mind it was the hippies that pretty much started a revolution back in the 60s and are currently ruining the country now.  They've already destroyed our country's values, why not destroy our value as well.

It's no wonder people are feeling like they can't do it anymore.  Our leaders have placed this country in a position where we rely on them for everything.  The sad part is, we've done it to ourselves.

My mother-in-law discovered a pattern.  Everytime I go away for an extended period and work long hours, I get sick.  I've never really thought of myself as a sickly person, but since I've been at ITS, it seems like I get sick frequently and it always seems to coincide with long work weeks and strange sleep schedules.

Some of you may remember around Christmas when I almost cancelled the Christmas party due to nausea, diarrhea, and slight fever.  Fortunatly, that wound up being an 18 hour thing that passed and no one else got sick so I'm guessing my immune system just can't take the lack of sleep.

I wonder what's more frustrating for my wife, having me gone for days on end, or having me around the house sick?  I'm sure it's no fun being around someone who is constantly complaining about not feeling good.  I won't even let her give me a smooch since she's less than 4 weeks from D-Day (Delivery Day) and I'd hate for her to get sick now.

Plus it's freaking hot outside.  I wonder if all the extreme temperature differences have anything to do with it?  I was in a siberian computer room this past week and the average temperature was 58F.  Temperatures outside were running high 90s.  I'm sure that probably takes it's toll on your body as well.

Is anyone planning on seeing "The Happening"?  It looks fairly apocalyptic and I'm all about some end of the world movies.  I know Shane wants to go, and my wife said she'd like to skip it but has no problem with me going.  "The Happening" and "The Hulk" are on my to see list before the baby comes.  Any takers?