Wal-Mart

So just let me apologize up front for offending all the WalMart shoppers of the world. Sunday afternoon I went to WalMart. The last time I was there was Christmas, when we couldn't find the right lego kit for our grandson. We didn't find it at WalMart either.

Anyway, this is standardized testing week and I always bring a lot of candy (hence the trip to the cheaper store). Today I started with the tootsie roll pops, talking to the kids about stress and that I had invested in stress relievers for them and brought these out. They laughed like crazy - stress gone! Always works. Most of the kids don't even eat the candy until much later in the day but it always makes them laugh and that helps them with the whole test thing. Wait until tomorrow... math and bubblegum! Opens the nerves to the brain and helps them do computations, well, that's what I tell them. Yeah, they'll laugh again but they will chew the gum too! Math is scary!

Anyway, I rarely shop at WalMart. They do have a ton of stuff; it is cheaper, but I don't like the place! Every time I go to that store, I run into at least one couple where he is yelling at her and she's cringing and trying to defend herself while the kids stand by, silent, waiting to see how it ends. It's so obvious that this type of interaction goes on regularly at their home. I always see people who speak like they have never been to school. And they delight in it! The nasty talk, the rudeness to the checkers, it's just not my kind of place. I must be a snob or something because I really don't like it.

I suppose Jesus would be hip deep in this store, talking to people, encouraging the little kids. The best I could do was say 'excuse me' to the man being mean to his wife and reach between them for a can of whatever it was... I don't remember, didn't even buy it, left it on another shelf somewhere. But he stopped, for the moment. And the kids could breathe again.

How do we have a salt and light effect on people who act like that, in public, not caring who sees them? I kind of wanted to hit that mean man with the can of whatever I took from the shelf... bring some light into his thick skull! Yeah, I know, not a very loving attitude. I need to think on this for a while, imagine what I could have said or done. I guess it's too easy to become comfortable at 'my' Trader Joe's. There's a lot more people in WalMart.