Home Town Staple

Warning: This post may upset some of you. I'll get over it.

Our family's lifestyle has had an added blessing of being able to move around a lot. We are far from both sets of grandparents, so there is always a road trip available, if we so choose to spend all day in a vehicle with three small children. Granted, these trips usually occur when Jay is gone and I get restless. Some call me brave to embark on these endeavors alone with the children. I look at it as trying to not change habits or traditions.

We met in Kansas while Jay was stationed at Ft. Riley. We've lived in Manhattan, Ks, Olympia, Wa, Norman and Moore, Ok, Highlands Ranch, Co and now El Paso, Tx.

There is one thing that all of these places have in common. One thing that my family can always turn to when we get a little 'homesick'. Granted, we aren't anywhere very long to grow too attached to it to pine for our lives 'back there'. But, it happens. Especially with the kids.

That element is Wal-Mart.

Most Wal-Mart stores have similar floor plans. So the chances of walking in to one in your new town and feeling like you at the store in your previous town are pretty high.  Unless you are in Coffeyville, Ks. That store is crazy. Sorry. Crā-Crā. (Its how all the kids are saying 'crazy' these days. I try to stay hip.)

Anyway, I have gone to Wal-Mart with the kids many, many times to kill time. I've gone because I've needed a break from trying to establish friendships for myself. I've gone because I've needed a break from trying to help establish friendships for my daughters. I can linger there for hours. I don't realize that I am trying to set up a new 'home' in a new town until I walk out to find my van in the parking lot.

I love Wal-Mart.

Target is a snob. They aren't as widespread and they are so much more expensive. I like Target, but they don't seem as well staffed, and they just don't have 'everything'.

As Sophia, from the Golden Girls, would say: Picture it. 2011. El Paso. Our family just got the key to our new living establishment. Needing supplies, I found the closest Wal-Mart and we headed off.

Boy, was I surprised!

The staff was so slow. The parking lot was crowded. The store was dirty, disorganized, and dimly lit.

I felt like I had lost a friend. I was broken hearted. The one thing that I had constant in the ten years that I have been with Jay was a Wal-Mart that I enjoyed to shop at. One that I felt safe both inside and out.  I didn't realize how much I mourned this loss until this summer when I got back to El Paso.

A brand-spanking new Wal-Mart opened up just down the street!

I was skeptical. I was scared. I had so many hopes for this store. Once I walked in, they could shatter like Madelyn's porcelain fairy did on our tile floor.

Or...

It could be a dream come true.

You know what?!? It was!

The aisles are the widest of any store I've ever been in.  The checkout stands are open. I've never been more than the second person in line. It's clean. The carts are smooth. It has a great variety of everything that I go in there looking for. I love going there!

What makes it even better is the customer service.

A few weeks ago, Madelyn's bike was stolen. We had it for only three days until it was missing. Madelyn was so broken hearted. We filed a report with the MPs and chalked it up to being gone forever. I went and got her a new one that day.  Out of curiosity, I went to the Customer Service desk and asked for a manager. I told him the story, and he said he could't do anything about it. There is no store policy. But, he could give me 10% off the new one if I replaced it.

I didn't expect a bike given to me as the replacement. I was just curious what he would do. He could say, "Sorry," and walk away. But, he didn't! I thought that the 10% was very generous. So we got a new one and were on our way.

An hour after being home, the doorbell rang. The MPs were there with Madelyn's bike. They had found it. We were completely shocked. It was only the second bike they've ever recovered.

So, the next day, I tried to return the second bike. They took it back, no questions asked. I even told them that she had ridden it for the afternoon. They said it was in sellable condition. Yey!

I am told that Wal-Mart is ruining 'America' by only selling stuff from China. But, everyone is. Look at the Dollar Store, Dollar Tree, anything off the fun shelves at Walgreens. You can't get around it.

I am posting this from an iMac. It is most definitely made in China.

I feel like I have a 'home' now. I know, subconsciously, its because I am happy with my neighborhood Wal-Mart.

I just can't live without it.





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