Mayhem in the Aisles at Wal-Mart! Your worst sterotypes confirmed.

[SlickTony]

We had a very exciting visit to Wal-Mart; we saw a rumble there. We went there after we picked up Henry from Youth because we needed to get a refund for the Mr. Coffee decanter that would not fit under our older model machine. You know how Super Wal-Marts have two entryways, generally food on the left and pharmacy and office supplies and such on the right. So we came in the food entrance, and the first indication that something abnormal was going down was a trash can lying on its side with stuff spilling out of it near the deli area.

There was this enormous scrum happening that seemed to involve about a dozen people, although there were just two or three guys that were fighting and a woman was peripherally involved. It was all black folks, some shirtless and some in wifebeaters, and it really was a knock-down drag-out fight. At one point one of the guys had the other bent over head-down in a free-standing deli kiosk and was punching him in the ribs. Then they broke free from there and the fighting seemed subside. But then it broke out again, and while we were watching, suddenly it boiled out into where we were, and the two guys who were fighting came tumbling out over the floor and fetched up against the ATM, so that we and the other people who were watching had to dart between the cash registers to keep from getting mixed up in it.

We kept expecting security to come and break things up and restore order, but there didn't seem to be any at first. Then we observed some young men, who didn't seem to be nearly as tough-looking as the people in the rumble, going past talking earnestly on two-way radios. Eventually the fighters were herded out the entrance.

We went and got cash back for our decanter and went back to the small appliances area to see if there was anything else we could get for our coffee machine, which there wasn't, except for a little four-cupper, which wouldn't have suited us. We'll probably have to get a new coffee machine next weekend, which I resent, seeing as how there is NOTHING wrong with the one we have right now except it has no decanter.

When we got back to the food side, as we'd also planned to buy ourselves something to eat as well as return the decanter, we saw that the police had arrived and were talking to the staff. The trashcan and a cardboard display that the fighters had crashed into had been pushed out of the way next to the deli.

All the rest of the time we were there we could see people, customers and staff, talking among themselves and you could tell they were talking about the fight.

To think that I am going to be 56 tomorrow and have been shopping in Wal-Marts for over two decades and this is the first time I've ever seen a big fight there.

 

[xssve]

Talk about sterotypes - you should see the Marines and the Nav going at it.

 

[SeaCat]

LOLOL

You need to come a bit further south.

The Wal-Mart my wife and I usually go to now had a shooting inside the main entrance the day after their grand opening.

The one we used to has enough violence at it they have armed Police patroling it while open. (Truckers refuse to overnight there.)

But people disbelieve me.

Cat

 

[S-Des]

LOLOL

You need to come a bit further south.

The Wal-Mart my wife and I usually go to now had a shooting inside the main entrance the day after their grand opening.

The one we used to has enough violence at it they have armed Police patroling it while open. (Truckers refuse to overnight there.)

But people disbelieve me.

Cat

We have one about 20 minutes from my house that's open 24 x 7. It's near one of my work stops, so I shopped there one night at about 3:00AM. There were two armed police standing in front of the only entrance and two more in the store. Since there was only 20 people in gigantic store, it seemed silly, but I'm guessing the armed presence discourages troublemakers. I'm just glad I don't have to live in that neighborhood.

 

[SlickTony]

Hey, I believe you, SeaCat.

The thing is, S-Des, this is not supposed to be a bad neighborhood. It is a business/residential (condo) neighborhood that was carved out of sand and scrub just a couple of years ago. The condos were advertised at first as being in the middle $200Ks, although they had to come down a tad. (I am already seeing Lis Pendens and foreclosures on people for those propeties--how sad is that?) You wouldn't have thought there would have been time for it to go bad.

 

[TE999]

To think that I am going to be 56 tomorrow and have been shopping in Wal-Marts for over two decades and this is the first time I've ever seen a big fight there.

Obviously you have never gone to a Moonlight Madness Sale.

People fighting like rabid bats over $80.00 color TV's are a sight to behold

We go for the amusement factor.

 

[SlickTony]

I turn on the tube or go to the cinema for drama (or have my house renovated). I only go to Wal-Mart to shop for basic necessities.

Although come to think about it, if I could have caught up with the rude little heifer who darted into a parking slot I was patiently waiting to get into, so that I had to walk from the outer boondocks to get to the store when I was 8 3/4 months pregnant, there might have been a shouting match...

 

[Lee Chambers]

I will say this in defense of the guys who work security at places like Walmart, Target and K-Mart (if there are still some left open): the store policy now is to make sure their "security" understands that they aren't being paid enough to risk their lives.

When I went to work for Sears in the summer of 2001, we were given a security briefing and the general warning that anything stolen would be pursued...literally. The head of security then proceeded to tell us a little anecdote about how someone snatched a stereo and ran and the two security guys working at the time chased him across the INTERSATE (eight lanes, eighty miles an hour) and took him down.

Two years later I went to work for Target. Their head of security told me a story of a Walmart security guard and a manager pursuing another shoplifter into a residential development behind their store. The manager ran to get a truck to try and cut off the shoplifter and when the security guy went searching for him in the development, he got jumped and took a bullet in the head.

While this story may or may not be true, we were informed in no uncertain terms that we were not to try and restrain shoplifters and if someone demanded money from the register we gave it to them. Our jobs were not worth risking our lives.

As for the fight in Walmart...god I wish I could have been there to see that. Nothing like watching Jerry Springer Live!

 

[rengadeirishman]

I am banned from a walmart near my home because i got into a fight there. I had been drinking and ran into a near-mortal enemy whilst there. he said something that set my blood afire and next thing you know shelves are being pulled down in one of the aisles.

I know, its hard to imagine an irishman getting drunk and fighting, but it happened i swear! lol.

 

[wyckdwench]

This isn't so much about the fight as the decanter - for older coffee pots you can often find replacement pots at the thrift stores for a lot less. We drink lots of coffee and with three kids in the house we manage to break one or two. Less inexpensive to get the pots that way than Wal Mart.

 

[S-Des]

I know, its hard to imagine an irishman getting drunk and fighting, but it happened i swear! lol.

Wow, I'm Irish and I know I'm shocked.

The thing I've always observed about problems like that is that it's not necessarily the neighborhood, but where people are moving from. There is a pristine town (upper middle-class) I used to work in (and still go through every day on my way to work) and was shocked to have a student tell me there was a problem with gangs (it was some Eastern European group, but I can't remember who, for the life of me). They came from a bad place, looking for a better life. The problem is, the kids were so used to the bad place, they immediately reconstructed it, even though the new home had few problems except for the ones they created. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if those problems disappeared as soon as they became acclimated to their new surroundings and realized that kind of behavior isn't tolerated, nor is it necessary to get by. Unfortunately, the adjustment period is unavoidable; people don't change overnight. Hopefully it will be short and everyone can find their niche (and feel safe).

 

[Brute_Force]

Wal-Mart is a wretched boil on the ass of America. I NEVER shop there because of their fucking corporate policies and the way they treat their staff. (They don't offer 'em affordable healthcare, so they tell everybody the number of the government agency that provides welfare services instead.) What a place. Have a nice day!

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I never bother going to Wal-Mart. They only speak spanish in there

 

[jomar]

Obviously you have never gone to a Moonlight Madness Sale.

People fighting like rabid bats over $80.00 color TV's are a sight to behold

We go for the amusement factor.

And don't forget those wholesale wedding dress sales. *shiver*

 

[Stella_Omega]

I am banned from a walmart near my home because i got into a fight there. I had been drinking and ran into a near-mortal enemy whilst there. he said something that set my blood afire and next thing you know shelves are being pulled down in one of the aisles.

I know, its hard to imagine an irishman getting drunk and fighting, but it happened i swear! lol.

Sing "Danny Boy," do you?

(I do, often, and sometimes I remember the words)

 

[rengadeirishman]

Sing "Danny Boy," do you?

(I do, often, and sometimes I remember the words)

bah, danny boy is not even a real irish song. It was written by an englishman and later put to an irish tune. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Boy

there are many far superior irish songs, such as: The Rose of Tralee, The Irish Rover, The Minstrel Boy, Star of the County Down, and Whiskey in the Jar.

The Irish National Anthem Amhran na bhFiann (The Soldiers Song) is also quite good, i beliefe i shall post the lyrics.

 

[rengadeirishman]

Seo dhíbh a chairde duan Óglaigh
Cathréimeach bríomhar ceolmhar
Ár dtinte cnámh go buacach táid
'S an spéir go mín réaltógach
Is fonnmhar faobhrach sinn chun gleo
'S go tiúnmhar glé roimh thíocht don ló
Fé chiúnas chaomh na hoíche ar seol
Seo libh canaídh Amhrán na bhFiann

Sinne Fianna Fáil
Atá fé gheall ag Éirinn
Buíon dár slua
Thar toinn do ráinig chugainn
Fé mhóid bheith saor
Seantír ár sinsear feasta
Ní fhágfar fén tiorán ná fén tráill
Anocht a théam sa bhearna bhaoil
Le gean ar Ghaeil chun báis nó saoil

Le gunnascréach, fé lámhach na bpiléar
Seo libh, canaídh Amhrán na bhFiann
Cois bánta réidhe, ar ardaibh sléibhe
Ba bhuadhach ár sinsir romhainn
Ag lámhach go tréan fén sárbhrat séin
'Tá thuas sa ghaoith go seolta
Ba dhúchas riamh dár gcine cháidh
Gan iompáil siar ó imirt áir
'S ag siúl mar iad i gcoinne námhad
Seo libh, canaídh Amhrán na bhFiann
Sinne Fianna Fáil....

A bhuíon nách fann d'fhuil Ghaeil is Gall
Sin breacadh lae na saoirse
Tá scéimhle 's scanradh i gcroíthe námhad
Roimh ranna laochra ár dtire
Ár dtinte is tréith gan spréach anois
Sin luisne ghlé san spéir anoir
'S an bíobha i raon na bpiléar agaibh
Seo libh canaídh Amhrán na bhFiann
Sinne Fianna Fáil...