Walmart, By Prayer

Our Walmart is huge, and I'm never too excited to visit it. But family is coming this weekend so I'll be cooking for 15 and needed to go. There's just too many bargains to not take advantage. I worked hard on my list, practically had it memorized. This time I wrote out each meal's ingredients with an individual shopping list and then transferred that to a "master" list. Wow, I was ready to go. Four pm is not the best time to be at a busy Walmart, but off I went, praying on my way.

Why pray before shopping, one may ask. It's a matter of panic attacks, which I've been known to have at Walmart. About halfway through a major shopping I can suddenly feel stifled, attacked by the crowded aisles and a feeling that I can't get another thing and I have to get out of there fast. May sound strange to others, but that's me. So I garnished or girded this trip with prayer, before, during and afterwards, a breath of thanksgiving. This time I found the aisles manageable. I remembered almost the whole list without looking and rarely had to circle back for something. But even when I got to the main ingredient aisles that always get busy (oh boy, I forgot today was a holiday so it was even more crowded), I found myself maneuvering the crowds with my heavy cart, smiling at people, even making a few comments like you do when you find yourself looking for the same food item with another person. Two Mormon looking young men (dead giveaway short sleeve white shirts and ties) came through smiling and excusing themselves in every direction. That was pleasant and people responded pleasantly to them.

By the time I reached the check out counters my back hardly hurt and I was feeling pretty on top of things. I looked at the lines and chose what looked like a nice checker. She was Latino and I hadn't seen her before. I made some friendly comments about the lower grade bags that all the checkers have been complaining about and when she didn't respond much, I wondered how her English was. Then I realized she was new, and this was the icing on the whole cake of the shopping experience. It was her first day checking alone. As I questioned her I found her English fine, but she was very nervous and unsure of herself. So I had my chance to affirm her and I did so with great gusto. I told her what a wonderful job she did and I that I would be back to her counter next time. I left her smiling. I even smiled a good bye to the door guard who didn't want to see my slip for some reason. What a worthwhile trip, even if there hadn't been groceries.

I think it may have been my best trip ever to Walmart.