WalMart & the Lure of Temptation

WalMart is only on the other side of town (three miles away as the crow flies) but it might as well be on the dark side of the moon as far as I'm concerned.  I had rather eat a bug than go to WalMart, and that's saying something since I'm a vegetarian!

But, today, that is precisely where I had to go.  I swear that place is a den of iniquity:  chock full of temptation for stuff that you really don't need but you're sure gonna feel like you've absolutely gotta have before you're out the door.  I resisted mightily but it wasn't easy, so I just kept repeating my mantra:  don't have money to spend.....don't have money to spend.....don't have money to spend.....be calm.

What I needed was bubblewrap, and I do not like buying bubblewrap.  Normally, I've got more than enough because folks give me their leftover packing materials but today I had a special shipment to prepare (took me four hours to pack it!) and it required my best presentation.  What I needed was a new pair of jeans, even though I don't like paying full price.  Clothes get worn out, and it was past time for replacing.  That's all.  That's really all I needed that I couldn't easily buy elsewhere.

What I wanted was nearly everything else I looked at.

My route in life is fairly simple, and the circumference is small.  I go to the Post Office most days.  I go to church whenever the doors are open (and most of the time I'm the one who has to open them).  I shop at a local grocery that sells mostly local produce.  And I go to a couple of dollar stores when necessary.  Nearly everywhere I go, folks know me by name and I like that.  That's pretty much the sum of my life.  If I want anything else, I can probably find it on eBay or at a yard sale.  Simple.

Walmart is not simple.  First they wear you out by making the store so big that you have to walk around forever before you can find anything (not to mention that trudge in from the parking lot that's like a hike all the way from the north 40).  Then they wear you down by having too much of everything so that you begin to feel like you've got nothing if you aren't buying all of it.

I got out before they stole my soul.....but I didn't get away clean.  

Yeah, there's a two pound chunk of Tillamook in the fridge right now, and a couple of loaves of marked-down specialty bread on the counter.  The cat got a few cans of cat food in a flavor she doesn't normally get to enjoy.  I really did need that little package of beads so I can finish making a couple of Christmas ornaments.  And I was almost out of printer paper anyway.....ARGH!  That's how they get you.

WalMart:  deeply dangerous.  
Best avoided.
I feel kinda dirty.