Before today, I have never walked out of Wal-Mart with a smile on my face. I am usually pissed off at one of the following; poor service, crappy products, annoying staff, disgusting staff, slow people walking down the aisles, trashy people, kids screaming and running around, creepy people, and always my favorite creepy, weird staff. I always think it will be fun to go there and just look around, but usually after ten minutes I am so irritated that on occasion I have just put everything I have in my arms on a random shelf and walked out. Not only that, while I am trying to walk out the dumb people walking in can't read the ENTER or EXIT sign and usually are blocking me from leaving. Then you enter the parking lot which is basically a free for all. People driving the wrong way down the lanes, lazy fat people walking down the middle of the lanes, and kids running around nearly getting hit by the old timers who are driving a car that they have no idea how to drive.
All of that being said I had the experience of a lifetime at Wal-Mart tonight. Now I did have to ignore a lot of the usual things that happen but here it is. As we were walking in we saw what looked like the typical greeter. He fooled us good with his mullet and missing teeth. As soon as we were close to him he gave a full extended arm wave and a very enthusiastic HI YA'LL AND WELCOME TO WAL-MART. This typically would have appalled me but this guy was so happy and enthusiastic it took every ounce of my energy not to high five the guy.
We finish our shopping and pay and we are now on our way out. We thought we could sneak out without having to say anything to the greeter but once again we mis-judged him. HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR CHOOSING WAL-MART. I responded back to the man with a thank you and take care. He refused to let me have the last word and once again gave an enthusiastic response, YOUR WELCOME AND HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON.
If this guy doesn't win employee of the month, then I want to meet the guy who did because he must be a class act.
-Flick
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
WI versus Charlotte: The differences we see
Flick and I have been here for about two months now and I think it’s safe to say there are some differences between our new home in Charlotte and our old homes back in Wisconsin. Of course there are some obvious differences but there are some small ones too. Again, many of these are just our opinions and thoughts and not facts by any means.
1) Well the big obvious one is weather of course. We have enjoyed getting phone calls of it snowing in WI while we are experiencing 75 degree weather. Haha to all of you back in WI! =) But people here think 75 is too cold and they close down pools for the season at the temp.
2) People really do love their fried chicken and biscuits. Not only is there KFC, but Chick-fil-A, Bojangles and Churches, all selling some sort of fried chicken. And they are on every corner; it’s like the Starbucks of LA. During lunch hour at work, it’s all they ever want. I find it quite humorous! With all the fried chicken places, it leaves no room for places like Culvers or cheap breakfast places like Perkins.
3) Ya’ll is said and written in messages. It really is used ALL the time.
4) The variety of frozen pizzas is very slim in grocery stores. In WI you have a whole wall of freezers filled with different brands of frozen pizzas. Here you are lucky to find two.
5) Milk is expensive, while beer and liquor are generally cheap.
6) There are dollar stores everywhere.
7) People rarely use their blinkers while driving but they usually drive the speed limit. Illinois people would never last.
8) Every single neighborhood is named. It is written on a decorated sign with flowers and bushes surrounding it.
9) Speaking of landscaping, to mulch around trees and bushes they use pine needles not wood chips or small rocks like people in WI would use.
10) Many of the people here aren’t actually from here.
11) Apparently parents don’t believe in having their children picked up by the school bus. The lines in front of the high, middle, and elementary schools of parents waiting to pick up their children at the end of the day are ridiculous.
12) City busses have their own little section on the highway to avoid traffic, which is nice.
13) There are at least 3 car accidents every morning and afternoon during rush hours, turning the highways into parking lots very often.
14) There are speed humps not bumps on the roads, mostly through neighborhoods and around schools.
15) There are security officers in front of or at the door of almost all buildings/businesses.
16) People freak out, stock there cabinets and not drive anywhere if they hear there will be a chance of snow.
17) The news isn’t worth watching because it’s generally about people being murdered, which I guess would be true in any bigger city (it’s not anywhere near where we live of course).
18) They don’t sell Spotted Cow down here, which makes us both very sad.
19) They call “Downtown”, Uptown. We didn’t know WHAT they were talking about when we first moved here.
20) Some of the clubs uptown have people in the bathrooms that dry your hands for you so when you go in there for the first time drunk, don’t freak out and think that someone is trying to steal your purse.
21) In waiting rooms where it should be quiet and you would talk in a whisper…people are loud.
22) People are friendly, always using expressions like sweetie, hun or darling.
23) Appetizers are smaller than you would expect them to be, while the meals are usually larger than you would expect. Their side salads are huge!
24) They ALWAYS ask to see your ID if you order an alcoholic beverage anywhere.
25) Gas stations have different prices, even if they are right across the street from one another. And it's not just a penny, it's sometimes 20 cents.
26) It takes about a half hour to go anywhere.
This is what we see so far, there will probably be more to come. So things are pretty different here from WI. Some good, some not so good but we LOVE it here anyway.
~Hammer
1) Well the big obvious one is weather of course. We have enjoyed getting phone calls of it snowing in WI while we are experiencing 75 degree weather. Haha to all of you back in WI! =) But people here think 75 is too cold and they close down pools for the season at the temp.
2) People really do love their fried chicken and biscuits. Not only is there KFC, but Chick-fil-A, Bojangles and Churches, all selling some sort of fried chicken. And they are on every corner; it’s like the Starbucks of LA. During lunch hour at work, it’s all they ever want. I find it quite humorous! With all the fried chicken places, it leaves no room for places like Culvers or cheap breakfast places like Perkins.
3) Ya’ll is said and written in messages. It really is used ALL the time.
4) The variety of frozen pizzas is very slim in grocery stores. In WI you have a whole wall of freezers filled with different brands of frozen pizzas. Here you are lucky to find two.
5) Milk is expensive, while beer and liquor are generally cheap.
6) There are dollar stores everywhere.
7) People rarely use their blinkers while driving but they usually drive the speed limit. Illinois people would never last.
8) Every single neighborhood is named. It is written on a decorated sign with flowers and bushes surrounding it.
9) Speaking of landscaping, to mulch around trees and bushes they use pine needles not wood chips or small rocks like people in WI would use.
10) Many of the people here aren’t actually from here.
11) Apparently parents don’t believe in having their children picked up by the school bus. The lines in front of the high, middle, and elementary schools of parents waiting to pick up their children at the end of the day are ridiculous.
12) City busses have their own little section on the highway to avoid traffic, which is nice.
13) There are at least 3 car accidents every morning and afternoon during rush hours, turning the highways into parking lots very often.
14) There are speed humps not bumps on the roads, mostly through neighborhoods and around schools.
15) There are security officers in front of or at the door of almost all buildings/businesses.
16) People freak out, stock there cabinets and not drive anywhere if they hear there will be a chance of snow.
17) The news isn’t worth watching because it’s generally about people being murdered, which I guess would be true in any bigger city (it’s not anywhere near where we live of course).
18) They don’t sell Spotted Cow down here, which makes us both very sad.
19) They call “Downtown”, Uptown. We didn’t know WHAT they were talking about when we first moved here.
20) Some of the clubs uptown have people in the bathrooms that dry your hands for you so when you go in there for the first time drunk, don’t freak out and think that someone is trying to steal your purse.
21) In waiting rooms where it should be quiet and you would talk in a whisper…people are loud.
22) People are friendly, always using expressions like sweetie, hun or darling.
23) Appetizers are smaller than you would expect them to be, while the meals are usually larger than you would expect. Their side salads are huge!
24) They ALWAYS ask to see your ID if you order an alcoholic beverage anywhere.
25) Gas stations have different prices, even if they are right across the street from one another. And it's not just a penny, it's sometimes 20 cents.
26) It takes about a half hour to go anywhere.
This is what we see so far, there will probably be more to come. So things are pretty different here from WI. Some good, some not so good but we LOVE it here anyway.
~Hammer
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