A couple of people as confused as me were wandering around, looking lost. I was not the only one in the store at that time. Then I looked at the next one, a pack of forks.

I thought sure, it was probably just a security measure and I would have to bring it up to the cashier and they'd fetch the real one from a security case. The pliers behind the plastic were just pictures. The thing was a 5-pack of pliers, but when I picked it up I found it was an empty package. The next weird thing presented itself when I actually examined one of the items. I saw value packs of tools, toys, electronics, plasticware, everything except what I needed. It seemed like every aisle was just a mishmash of the same cheap crap regardless of the signs. I shoved my cart down endless aisles, looking for any sign of my necessities. I'm no newcomer to warehouse stores, but this place just went on and on. I just snagged my cart (which moved only slightly better than a boulder with square wheels) and set off. The greeter at the door was an overweight man or woman(didn't look too hard, didn't care) who said, 'welcome to Walmart' with accents on the wrong syllables so it came out 'weLLCome to wALMart.' Again, tired and not paying much attention, don't even know what to expect. My tired brain dismissed it as a reading comprehension error, instead of the first of many signs that something was very much wrong. I got out of my car and walked into the store The first problem didn't even hit me until I was securely inside the building and probably would have driven any seasoned wally-worlder scampering in the other direction. There were no carts loose in the lot, which was a first for any store I'd ever been to. I reviewed my options and resignedly turned my blinker on. I tooled around in my beater, trying to find a 7-11 or something along those lines when I saw that parking lot behemoth I'm sure we could all recognize in our sleep by now.

Then I remembered I was also out of lunch meat and just went 'fuck it.' No way I was braving the workday without my customary sandwich. I was resigning myself to having no toilet paper, no soap, and no milk until my next day off. I had just gotten off an all-day shift and tomorrow was looking to be no different. It was late at night, and I was out a lot of essentials. I'm just saying, maybe if I did I would have noticed something sooner. I don't look down on people who regularly have to out of financial necessity.

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