Day Sixty-One: Oh, Walmart...

To me, Walmart is one of those places I always associated with terrible, horrible things. When the first one opened up in my town when I was still a wee youngin', my mom and I went to check it out, and were amazed and shocked by the sheer size of the place. And then, as others found out about it, it became not only the most crowded retail location in the entire town, but also became a hang out and haven for the strangest and most unsavory of characters within a ten-mile radius. Keep in mind, I do not live in the Boondocks -- I live about forty minutes outside of a city center, where it is uncommon for us to raise pigs, and we definitely do not eat rabbit. But regardless, Walmart became a loathesome, brain-damaging place.

But every once in awhile, as years passed, by my mother's suggestion, we would venture out to one of the three Walmarts in the area to either look for something we think they might sell, or something my mom needed that the Giant Warehouse of Doom carried at a heinously cheap and annoying Rollback Price. But with a shudder and a sense of hope and slight optimism, I would accompany her to Walmart. But as predicted, after fifteen minutes of navigating around families of ten who left mammoth shopping carts in main thoroughfare aisles without care, and bargain-seeking, resourceful immigrants yelling loudly to each other across my path in languages I couldn't comprehend, I got claustrophobic and ran from the store in a panicked frenzy, swearing never to return. And finally, after about six months ago, I finally squeezed the last ounce of hope that Walmart experiences would get better out of my person, and hadn't been there since...

...until today.

After hours and days of looking for bedding for my new apartment that I liked enough to spend too much money on, I finally found the perfect set -- at Walmart. As the website stated it was only available online, I breathed a sigh of relief, and enjoyed the fact that I would be getting an entire set, including sheets, for forty-five dollars. I was ecstatic. That is, I was ecstatic until it was never in stock, EVER, because 10,000 other people were just as ecstatic as me. And then, magically, as if a gift from God, a nearby Walmart carried my bedding. I didn't think twice about venturing into the terrible hurricane of consumerism to get my coveted comforter.

But where I ended up was not just a Walmart. It was a twenty-four hour SUPER Walmart. It had a full grocery store, plenty of space, lots of neat organization, and aisles and aisles of cheap. And better yet, because it was open all the time it was NOT CROWDED. I could have spent hours in there, easily buying item after item without ruining my newly required budget. I have actually, for some strange reason, become enthralled by a Walmart. I feel slightly lower-class, but still excited.

I could spend HOURS and HOURS in this particular Walmart. I could go at 2 AM on a Saturday, when there was no one there, and go grocery shopping. It's a glorious concept. And while I'm still terrified of Walmarts, this Walmart is my friend. I am actually, dare I say it, looking forward to going back to a Walmart.

Who have I become? Or has someone, SOMEWHERE, actually improved a Walmart?