My trip to Super Walmart

Ok it's not like i've never shopped there before, but today was different. Normally I get my groceries at Kroger, but today I thought I'd give Walmart a try since i'd been told about some good deals and I need to save some money. The second reason was that I went to the mall to buy some new pants, as my others were starting to look a bit ratty. Have you ever noticed that Dockers ($30) wear out REALLY fast? I had a pair of nice wrinkle free slacks from Target that lasted three times as long. I finally had to give them up, as work pants, when they started to fade badly. I still wore them around the house for another 6 months before I donated them to Goodwill.

So here I am at the mall looking at slacks and cargo pants. I really like cargos. Not the super baggy skater type, the nice clean preppy boy kind. They were all either too big or too expensive. They had some nice ones for $20 at Old Navy (I hate that store), but none in my size. Everything else I saw was in the $45 range! Screw that. I saw the Dockers too, but I wasn't going to pay $30 for them. If they had been around $20 I would have considered them. I do like the way they fit.

So I left the mall empty handed and a little peeved. I figured there would be some back-to-school sales going or something. I guess I was a week late.

My journey now led me to Walmart. After picking up a few other items I checked out their selection of slacks. They didn't have anything OVER $20. Whohoo! The problem is I STILL had a hard time finding anything my size! UGH! I wear a 30x32, 30 inch waist, 32 inch inseam. You have no idea, unless you're the same size as me, how hard it is to find pants! It's the same with jeans. Its everyone a lard butt? Am I really so skinny that I'm a minority? God that's sad. And when I go up to a 32 waist, the length seems to drop to 30, which means they'll be too short. The only place I can find pants that fit are those places that have them for $45-50 a pair!

Anyway, after I found a couple pair that fit and some socks to match I did some grocery shopping. I was very surprised how much better their selection of produce and ethnic food where. I like to cook chinese and mexican and I like to use authentic ingredience or the best I can get anyway, short of going to a specialty market.

I also had fun people watching. It was amazing the diversity you find in a Walmart. I was also pleased at how friendly everyone was. With the exception of one guy who was getting impatient because he couldn't race through the aisles. I moved so he could get by. I very obviously moved for him. He only just remembered his manners and said thank you as was already behind me. Oh well. At least he expressed some gratitude.

I realized that I have been acting a bit snobish lately. I dunno if its the company I keep or just the city in general but I've been acting like I'm above being a little "red" now and again. Yea right. I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth. I wore K-Mart clothes and Pay-Less shoes. Yes I can afford better now, but maybe I shouldn't be. I need to back off and remember my roots a bit more. I want to buy a house or plot of land in 2 years. I have a lot of saving to do in that time. That means I'm gonna have to be a little more careful with my money.

Today was a good day. I learned a good lesson.