Thursday, October 9, 2008

A Rant & A Laugh

They make me crazy.

The Wal-Mart near me has been doing what we all love so much - remodeling and rearranging. After enduring weeks of utter chaos (and could someone please explain to me why the first thing they felt compelled to do was put the colognes across the aisle from the toothpaste, thereby putting the mouthwash in the next county? I can only hope all of the dental products are reunited now), they seem to be done. I think they are really just trying to look like the Super Target which is just about 1/4 mile up the road.

Granted, it does look better. Better in the sense of more open walkways, fancier bookshelves, etc. But WHY don't they ever ask a mom how to arrange these stores?

Along with a pile of other things, I needed to grab something for my man in the office/school supply section. It has always been right next to the greeting card/wrapping paper area. Makes perfect sense to me. Oh no, not any more. Pet food is next to the "Celebrations" area, and Office/School Supplies are in the back of the store next to Automotive.

They might want to consider the fact that there is an Office Depot in the connecting parking lot. Which is where I promptly went.

They also got rid of the self-check lanes, which I personally liked. I could scan and bag the stuff the way I wanted to. I lost a can of shave cream for weeks in the bottom of the school supply bag back in the summer.

But there is one redeeming factor of going to that store. And that is the sweet greeter that is there most mornings. He is always so kind and recognizes and chats with me. We were thrilled when we discovered that we are both Christians. And he goes to a nearby church where my girl played Upwards Basketball a few years back. In fact, you might call it "a church of like faith and order."

Which takes me back to a fun memory from my college days. At least back then, when someone moved their membership to one Baptist church from another one in the same area, when they were introduced at the end of the service, the pastor would say, "They are moving their membership from a church of like faith and order here in our city." That kept people from wondering and whispering about what's going on at that other church, especially if there were several folks who joined from the same church in a close amount of time.

Not that church folks ever gossip or anything.

Well, a friend of mine who had not grown up Baptist had no idea what that meant, and finally one Sunday he turned to me and asked, "Where is that Church of Like Faith & Order?" I've never seen it, but there sure are a lot of people that have gone there." I cracked up - the poor guy thought it was the actual name of a church.

Gotta go scrub 30 potatoes to bake - it's my turn (with a friend) to feed the volleyball teams this afternoon.

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5 comments:

Xandra@Heart-of-Service said...

Oh yes. The brainpower behind the Walmart floorplan is a marvel to behold. Yea, verily verily.

Xandra

PS He's home!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ocean mommy said...

Oh Linda! This has me laughing so hard. :) Nothing gets me wound up like the Wal-Mart! It seems each time I walk out of there, I'm so frustrated!!!

Hope you're doing well...
Blessings,
stephanie

sara said...

Taking out the self-check isle would cause me to MOVE stores!!! Mainly because I have found that at Walmart there are NEVER enough checkers and the lines are always a mile long!! Unfortunately for me, Target is not so close!!

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

Walmart is such a huge part of 20th and 21st Century America. It's like a national icon, and yet every single one of us is frustrated with it. Yours sounds wonkier than ours, even.

Lisa @ The Preacher's Wife said...

The Church of Like Faith and Order reminds me of my own naivete when I was first saved.

Our pastor told me to meet him when he 'opened the doors to the church'. I thought I was literally supposed to get there when he unlocked the church. Christianese doesn't always translate, does it?