My Wal-Mart Experience

Before I was hired at my present employer, I worked for four months at Wal-Mart in Marquette, Michigan. I actually applied to work there just before the busy Christmas months as something to do during semester break from college. I never got a call to work there during my break, so I ended up having the entire break off. A few months later, however, I would get the call for work at Wal-Mart. At first I was a little hesitant seeing that I was going to graduate from college in less than a couple of months. But then I thought I could always work at Wal-Mart while I did my search for a more permanent job. Working at Wal-Mart most certainly was not a long-term thing, yet, I was getting myself prepared to work there as long as I needed to find myself the right job. Thankfully four months was all I needed.

My first day there was more or less an orientation session to get familiarized with the Wal-Mart standards. Luckily I wasn't the only individual there for orientation, as there were three of us altogether. We watched a couple of different videos, including one on the "Sam Walton vision" of the company and how we all should live up to his beliefs. We also had to remember this acronym, and remember what each letter of the acronym stood for (I had forgotten it a long time ago - something about smiling faces, anyways). We literally could be stopped by a member of Wal-Mart managment and be asked to recite this acronym. We wouldn't get in trouble if we didn't know it, but I'm sure we could've gotten a tongue lashing from them (heck, I don't even think I ever remembered it completely). We also got a tour of the store and filled out a bunch of forms. Finally, and with headache, my first day at Wal-Mart was complete.

The next three days at Wal-Mart I considered to be rather torturous. All three of us that were in the orientation session now needed to have three days of cashier training. Seeing that I already knew how to use a cash register (after a couple of years of working at a grocery store), I thought three days was down-right excessive. But, I complied. I caught on much quicker than my two other co-workers. Even though I knew a lot, I still didn't know everything to the Wal-Mart cashiering system and there were some new procedures I needed to pick up. But it was something I didn't pay particularlly close attention to considering I was to be a sales associate and not a cashier. We started our days early in the morning, even on a Sunday morning when it was completely dead in the store and worked until about 3:00 or so in the afternoon. My very first transaction as a cashier at Wal-Mart was by a man who purchased a DVD. He used a $50 bill to pay for his purchase, and with him being my first customer of the day, I didn't have the appropriate change. So I had to get the correct change over at the little "podium," come back and give it to him. He leaves, but then the buzzer at the front entrance goes off. Darn, I forgot to swipe it over the little magnetic scale. Lesson learned. Hey, I never had to do that at the grocery store. So, by the time my three days were up and dealing with hundreds of customers (because Wal-Mart is such a tremendously busy store), I was finally done with cashier training. Man, I was relieved.

So that meant I was now ready to ascend over to my new department, which was Lawn and Garden. The one place I absolutely would've loved working in was Lawn and Garden and I got my wish. My first day back there was spent helping errect the sales area out in the parking lot around the greenhouse. It was early April, so we were still setting up for the summer season. I definitely got a good workout! But it was only four or five hours that I worked on that day, so I didn't get completly worn out. The next few days back there were pretty uneventful. The weather turned cold outside, almost wintery, so we were stuck inside stocking shelves and helping customers. Finally the weather turned warm again, and during my first morning shift, I got to meet the department manager, named Russ. He was a very pleasant guy to work with but the more I talked with him, the more I heard his very clear New England accent. Yes, he was from Massachusetts and I was very curious to hear how he arrived in Marquette, of all places. It turns out he held a couple of different positions out east before being hired with Wal-Mart and was eventually transferred to the U.P., first working at the Houghton Wal-Mart. He was a store manager at Wal-Mart in Marquette for awhile before the stress caught up with him and settled back to being a department manager. I helped put up sales signs in the corral (we called that the sales area outside) with him on that first day and it was always an enjoyable experience when I worked with him.

For the most part, I got along with everyone back in that department. But there was this one girl named Sarah that I got extremely bad vibes off of. She always had this stern look on her face and I always felt uncomfortable talking with her. There were a few times I had to work with her and I basically avoided her because she just seemed too moody and complained an awful lot. Definitely not the kind of person I enjoy being around, that's for sure. Cassidy was one of the people in my orientation session and someone I enjoyed working with. But sadly she abruptly quit and I never saw her again. I would've liked getting to know her a little better, as she was a Writing major herself, just like me. But, some things just aren't meant to be. Patricia was a sweet girl as well and a well-qualified lawn and garden associate. She knew the greenhouse area well and I learned a lot from her. She was pregnant at the time and in June of that year, gave birth to her baby. She didn't know if she'd ever return to Wal-Mart after her maternity leave and I don't think she did return. She graduated with a master's degree in teaching when I graduated college, so I assume she's transitioned to a much better position as well. Some people there I miss and others I have just forgotten about. Some names I have forgotten, too. The further beyond you go, the quicker you forget names.

On my last day at Wal-Mart, the people back in Lawn and Garden threw me a little party. Needless to say, I was humbled by that display of affection for me, especially considering I had only worked there for four months. They even gave me a small book, each of my co-workers writing a quote of "inspiration," as they all knew my major in college was writing. That small book, as Department Manager Russ so eloquently titled it, was "One Hot Summer." It truly was a hot summer with many days of 80's and 90's. During that summer, I spent a lot of time in the greenhouse and I kind of let it slip out that I had grown tired of working in there (it was nearing the end of the summer season anyways). I regret saying that because my co-workers never let me hear the end of it until I left that day. But, they were still nice about it. Only a small fraction of my co-workers are still there, as many have moved on. Unfortunatley, I just don't make it inside the Lawn and Garden area during the day anymore (as Wal-Mart is just too busy for my tastes), but I still have quite a few lasting memories of the people that made that department so special for me that "One Hot Summer."