Everyone Was at Walmart

In a small town, Walmart was the place

Many years ago, we lived in a small town in Georgia. Our two special needs kids thrived there and the environment of such a place is different than in a city. After many years of living in Atlanta it was a jolt to see perfect strangers waving to you with a smile on their face as you turned down a road. It was also kind of different to have some nearby businesses shut down for lunch for over an hour every day (lol).

There were a few big-chain stores and restaurants that were the main hubs of the town. One was Walmart. If you turned a corner on an aisle there most likely you would encounter a neighbor or friend and burst out laughing as you almost bumped carts.

As a stay at home mom I looked forward to the times when my husband could get vacation days from work and we would do some shopping together or take a day trip to nearby Macon. But when we stayed in town we would usually make a stop at Walmart and sometimes ran into someone we knew. Once we encountered our kids' school bus driver there buying snacks for the students.

I also have a memory of being in line behind a preacher's wife that we knew through my brother-in-law. They also had some school age children and when striking up a conversation with her she said she would no longer home school because it wasn't a good fit anymore. I could feel the visceral relief of her decision as she placed items on the conveyer belt.

At this Walmart I found many bargains including a nice holiday shirt for $1 and the best towel set I ever owned for $7. This was back when these types of unicorn deals weren't so rare. Also the "vibe" of this store was different than other stores of this type I have been to. Many of the big stores are full of often frenzied people trying to manage the stress of tired children and/ or a tight budget. If you are an empath-type person you can really notice that-and feel it for yourself sometimes too. But though these issues did exist with some of the customers at this store it somehow didn't seem as frantic.

As there weren't that many choices of stores in the town that were a one-stop-shop, almost everyone shopped at the local Walmart and it was always fun to see a familiar face.