Rollback.

(via People of Wal-Mart)
I loathe Wal-Mart. Especially on weekends. But yesterday, I had one of those realizations that Wal-Mart was the only place with everything on my diverse shopping list. So I headed into the belly of the beast on a Sunday afternoon.

I appreciate Wal-Mart’s low prices and large, varied selection (which is why I have to go there occasionally to avoid making a hundred stops). I like their Canopy home stuff, too. But the size, atmosphere, and inefficiency of the place exhaust me. Even at the back of the store, about a mile from the registers, you can still hear them beeping. Everything is so spread out that I keep missing items on my list and have to turn around multiple times – and, thanks to frequent remodeling, I never know where anything is. And, most of all, there are the people. SO MANY PEOPLE. Everywhere you want to be, there are at least two other people, totally unaware of their surroundings and/or moving at a snail’s pace. There’s always a screaming child within earshot. Finally, every checkout line is at least five people deep no matter what time it is. Going late at night makes no difference at all.

For all of these reasons, I’m usually thisclose to a nervous breakdown by the time I leave Wal-Mart. I don’t have these problems at Target (although their constant restocking is becoming annoying), or at the Neighborhood Market near my house, which is smaller, more convenient, and much more pleasant than a Super store. But if I need bagged salad, feta cheese, a wall clock, and a can of spray paint, it’s still the only option.