People of WalMart

I was out running errands, and I had several odd, unrelated things to get: plastic native Americans for a diorama, construction paper, coffee creamer, caulk, a cucumber, and toothpaste, so I decided to go into Super WalMart.

I normally don't like shopping in Supercenters, which is odd for a person who managed one of the first superstores, a Kmart with groceries on one side and the regular discount offerings on the other. However, I was not in the mood to mess around with stopping at three or four stores, so in I went.

At the checkout, I had a panic attack. Panic attacks are not something new to me, and I know that I can ride them out and am not having a heart attack after all, and this is not the first time I had a panic attack at the registers. Kind of ironic, considering I am spending money.

What intrigues me is that I am not the only woman my age who is having these episodes in stores. I wonder what it is--the number of choices, the lighting, the noise and stimulation, or even those carousels for bagging? Dear God, am I getting so old that I can't process?

One of my male co-workers recently referred me to the website peopleofwalmart.com, and when I told him I was aware of it (and a bit frightened by it), he accused me of holding out on him. Fortunately, I do not suspect I will end up on there (a very good reason for those panic attacks, I'm sure you'd agree, as my company on the site would be a bit odd).

Now that I think about it, maybe it's the company in the store which causes me issues. Website notwithstanding, I won't be going back in there again too soon.