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Another Walmart Episode

Here’s the scenario: I had just put in my 8 hours and can’t wait to get home, but I have to go to the supermarket because, well we’ve got to eat. So, I go to Walmart which as I’ve established previously, I shop in for financial reasons only. I had finished my shopping and headed toward the checkout and came to a line where the people in front of me had only a few items, Great! Then, as happens more often than not, I realize that I forgot something. My thought process was ‘do I get on the short line, which is a rarity and pick up the item at another time or go and get the item at that point.’ I forego the line and go get the item.
To my surprise when I go back to check out the same cashier has the same people and they have the same few items on the belt. Now being of sound mind and body, I thought that they were probably waiting for a price check and should be done any minute, so I got on the line.
Since the belt was mostly empty I started to put my items on the belt. Now picture this. Walmart has carts for children that are huge. The basket is in the front and then there is quite a large seat in the back for children to sit. The cart is basically blocking the entire belt. Generally, when I empty my contents on to the belt, I move my cart so that the people behind me can begin to load their items. I guess that’s not the standard thing to do. This customer in front of me is watching, arms crossed and totally indifferent to my struggle to reach over the cart to place my items on the belt. As I bumped the cart several times with no reaction on her part I became angry enough to know that it was probably best to keep my mouth shut because there was no guarantee of what would come out. I continued to struggled.
In the meantime, the cashier was standing there doing nothing and I’m starting to wonder what’s going on. About five minutes later the husband, I assume, comes walking back up to the register with a loaf of bread and orange juice. The cashier looking puzzled checks what I gather is a coupon and tells the man that the items are still not the ones on the coupon. I gathered by the cashiers face that this wasn’t the first time he tried to explain this. A lengthy conversation ensues because apparently the man did not understand English and had no idea why the items he brought back were not the right ones. The wife, still with arms crossed, just stood there. At this point, I felt some relief figuring that the man would leave the items and finish his purchase. Not the case! Instead, he took the bread and orange juice and went back to find the right items. Not only were they at the total opposite end of a massive supercenter, but he was walking at a snails pace to do this.
Now, I can feel my blood boiling. The cashier was shrugging his shoulders. The wife still hadn’t moved. I’m actually debating whether or not to remove my items, place them back in the cart and find another register, but with the amount of items that I had just unloaded I decided to call my sister instead. Donna is basically my fail-safe call before I blow, she’s a great listener. I spent 2 minutes venting before I hung up the phone. Now all I had left to do was pace back and forth looking to see if the man was on his way back. A full eight minutes later he was in sight and strolling along as if he had rocks in his shoes. As he approached I noticed the cashier shaking his head. They were the wrong items again! That was all I could take and I exclaimed out loud, “you have GOT to be kidding!” at which point the cashier told the couple that he needed to ring through the sale. It was about time!!!
With the cart still in place and the woman still with arms crossed it took another 4 minutes for the man to pay and load his purchases into their cart. Finally, a full 23 minutes after I had gotten on the line, they pulled away!
I’m not sure what possesses people to have such disregard for other’s around them. I know that if I hold someone up I apologize. The cashier commented that he was amazed at my patience. I didn’t feel the need to tell him what I was actually thinking.

Posted in Do Unto Others | 2 Comments »

Random Act of Kindness

My mother, Diane, asked me to write about an encounter I had with a complete stranger a few months ago. I, personally, do not often share many of the random acts of kindness demonstrated by myself or others, as I feel that what makes said acts special is the anonymity behind them. However, out of great respect for the website my mother has dedicated so many countless hours toward, and due to the fact that the amount of hard work and effort for her cause is seldom in this day of age, I am proud to share my experience.

A few months ago I found myself at a Kinko’s in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My girlfriend’s ninety three year old grandmother silently passed in her sleep a few days prior to my arrival, and being the caring boyfriend I’d like to consider myself to be, I booked a highly overpriced flight out there to give my love and support to her family. Her grandmother was an amazing woman who fought for equal rights for women her entire life. She was a founding member and ex-president of her sorority, as well as a member of various equal rights groups around her area. Her husband, who had passed years ago, was a high-ranking official in the VA in the 1960’s. My girlfriend and I were at Kinko’s because the family wanted to make a slide show to give respect to my girlfriend’s grandparent’s life’s accomplishments. Lindsey and I were scanning invitations to White House ballroom parties hand-signed by JFK. We scanned “thank you” letters from other high ranking government officials along with invitations to every Presidential Inauguration since JFK. We were in quite a rush, as we had to scan the material, put the files on a CD, and then transfer the files to a software program to create the slideshow. As we were waiting in line for the cashier, a man, who I would later find out was named Joseph B, stood in the line adjacent to us, speaking with a cashier. Mr. B. presented as a person from a lower socio-economic status. Although clothed appropriately, one could sense that the jeans he wore that day were probably worn most days of the week. However, just like I don’t judge a book by its movie, I don’t judge a person by their appearance (most of the time). Joseph was being honored by a club that he was a member, coincidentally, for all of his life’s accomplishments. He was inquiring about having his hand-written resume typed and printed so that he could distribute his life’s accomplishments to the members of his club. The cashier, although very helpful, followed Kinko’s protocol for such an inquiry and explained to Joseph that the job would cost a little over $30+ and he could pick his copies up from them in two days. I distinctively remember the look on Joseph’s face, as a frown appeared to overwhelm it. He couldn’t afford the $30+. This was, however, that important to him that he decided to go ahead with it. That was all I needed. I asked Lindsey if she could give me 15 or so minutes. She was watching the entire ordeal with me, and said “of course” almost before I was done asking. I approached Joseph and asked him if he would allow me to do the job for him. He wasn’t quite sure what I was proposing or how to react, so I pleasantly took the paper from him and turned toward the cashier. I bought a small amount of computer time and acted as Joseph’s stenographer. Joseph was a band leader, helped youths from poor neighborhoods become involved with music, and was an active member of various clubs in his community. I added my two cents when appropriate, primarily with proper rules of grammar. We ran out of computer time so I bought more. I formatted his resume so that it looked professional, spruced it up here and there, and printed it out for him to see. I told him I would make it perfect for him. I printed out three different resumes, all with different formats. Joseph loved the third one. He took the printed resume and made fifty copies of it. The cashier rang him up for a grand total of $2. Joseph’s speech was subtle as he thanked me for all that I had done. I told him that he lived a wonderful life full of accomplishments and that any person lucky enough to know him should know what he was all about. He grabbed my hand and shook it, thanked me again and walked out. We took our CD, paid, and left. Lindsey and I could have walked out of that store a half an hour earlier, and we would have forgotten about Mr. Joseph B. for the rest of our lives. But we didn’t, and that’s what makes all the difference.

Posted in One Good Turn | 6 Comments »