Photo by "el neato"
Flickr Creative Commons
For Southerners, Walmart (or “Wally World” as it’s known to fans of National Lampoon’s vacation) isn’t just a place to score “everyday low prices” on toilet paper, big screen tvs, or whatnot. Oh no. It’s where folks go to socialize. You never know who might turn up at the local Walmart on a Sunday evening. And if you’re not there to take part in the gossip, well, one guess who the gossiping’s going to be about.
The odd thing about the Walmart social scene (aside from the fact that it takes place in Walmart) is that even though folks know they will run into their friends/enemies/rivals/relations, there’s no pressure to dress up. At all. Curlers in hair? Why not? Mud-encrusted boots? Come on in! Pizza and beer-stained wife beater? Who cares? If you’ve ever been to Walmart, you know I speak the truth. And if you haven’t witnessed these crimes of fashion firsthand, consider this exhibit A through Z: People of Walmart.
Walmart has tried hard to cultivate this whole “Walmart Family” image, but, folks, the store is not actually your house. You might want to change out of your pajamas before running in to get the kids’ OJ and Jimmy Dean Pancakes and Sausage on a Stick.
Photo by Adam Kuban
Flickr Creative Commons
I imagine Walmart has become the hub of many a Southern town because…well, hell, because Walmart practically IS a Southern town. You’ve got your optician, your hardware store, your pharmacy, your photo center…groceries, clothes, furniture, housewares, firearms, fishing supplies…restaurants…video rentals…“jewelry.” If the Waltons could figure out how to incorporate a church into the mix, folks would NEVER have to leave. And as a bonus, customers might step it up in the wardrobe department. Nobody wears curlers in the house of the Lord.
How often do you frequent your local Walmart? What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever encountered there?
stuff southern people like 
LOve reading your post!
don’t you say “the” wal-mart? preferably with a truncated e sound? “goin’ over to th’ walmart…”
Yep, Southerns tend to add “the” to the front of Walmart and an “S” to the back of Target.
The time show is an enormous issue for me but ‘simply’ water
resistance of the fitbit is an enormous let down – not a deal breaker but.
I was just in Jackson County, Tennessee and one of my young cousins left a party. He was taking his truck to Cookeville to hang out in the Walmart parking lot. Apparently that’s where kids from several Tennessee counties land on Friday nights.