Rooster and I Regret Shopping at Walley World

I remember how excited folks got when construction started on a Walley World store on the outskirts of town. Several communities around us already had one. We felt left out of the state’s consumer economy because we had to drive 50 miles to buy cheap stuff. Still, Rooster and I regret shopping at Walley World.

Everyone became elated when they built a superstore branch across the street where the consumer could buy stuff in bulk.

These big chain stores promised to bring jobs to the community. They did until Obama Care was passed. Then, they found reasons to fire all of their full-time employees for those they could employ for under 20 hours a week. Suddenly, the store had people who didn’t show up for work. This situation led to the installation of those self-serve checkouts and is one of the many reasons I regret shopping at Walley World.

Rooster and I regret shopping at Walley World

I should start this explanation by saying Rooster and I are not fans of the big retail store. We stay away from the malls, and we do our grocery shopping at a small grocery store that does offer fifty thousand items we don’t need. We can use our cloth bags without feeling hurried.

Then the pandemic hit. We found ourselves at the big chain store several times to pick up supplies we’d normally purchase at a mom-and-pop place that had closed. However, many of the things they required the customer to do didn’t make sense to stop the spread of disease—for instance, standing in line to enter at the one entrance that remained open. People ended up bunched together, no matter how hard they attempted to remain six feet apart.

Our last experience- Why Rooster and I regret shopping at Walley World

It’s Christmas. Things have opened up since our last visit to Walley World. Surely, things had got back to some resemblance of normal. Rooster and I were in a hurry. There wasn’t enough time to drive across town to where we usually shop. We decided to take a chance on Walley World. As it turned out, we should have driven across town.

The place was packed, making getting up and down the isles challenging. We more or less expected the crowding, but what we didn’t expect centered around the drastic rise in prices. We couldn’t find any cream cheese on the self. We’d heard there was a shortage, so we can’t blame the store. We gathered what items we could find into our shopping cart and headed for the checkout. This became the tipping point and why I regretted walking through the Walley Mart doors.

They didn’t have a single checkout person working that we could see. Almost every stall had been converted to one of those do-it-yourself jobs. If there is ever a time when you need a professional store clerk working the cash register, it is three days before Christmas.

I felt sorry for the lady in front of me. She had to scan each one of her Christmas presents. I heard her say she had to be careful. They called a guy to come to stand at the door because they thought she might be stealing something. I don’t think she was being paranoid. The African American woman and her friend were sure to be stopped before leaving the store. Rooster grumbled behind me. “If they try to stop me, I’m going to keep on walking. I’m done. This is the last time I’ll ever come in here.”

Not going back

So, this is an account of our latest trip to a big chain store. In the world after COVID-19 and its variants, customer service is dead. We now have to scan our groceries and pay outrageous prices for the privilege. These places were the only establishments to remain open during the lockdown. Didn’t they make enough profit off of us back then? I guess I’m blowing off steam, but I’m not ever going back.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

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