"...you'd think they could at least offer us some entertainment!"

Half my life i have been waiting for "something", my entertainment is to observe whats going on around me, never feel bored, always something you havn't noticed before.

A phone makes you a "zombie"...

I stopped watching television a few years ago. I also have my laptop which never leaves home. I do have an Iphone but I usually do not carry it and I still only use it to make phone calls or acassionally check the weather if I am out hunting. Being unplugged just makes you feel better.

For the poster who said he is addicted I say this. Turn of the tv and only use your phone for legitimate phone calls for fourteen days and then examine how you feel. I like a few others here tend to talk to the people I encounter rather than ignore them for some piece of electronic junk. You never know who you might meet. People watching is some of the best entertainment there is. Or just unplugging and trekking out into the wilderness to be alone with nature. That's my favorite thing to do.

When I find myself being impatient I try to kick my own butt and remember it's just a little time, that's all. It's how things work in our modern world. In the Military we call it "Hurry up and wait". Needless to say I am used to long waits so I just does not bother me. I usually have my daughter with me to entertain me anyways.

Run away, run away.
Just one second, and I was left with nothing.

'Opeth - Demon of the fall'

Honestly, how could you NOT be entertained standing in line behind some of these people?







'nough said.

reply to post by HEYJOSE


It gets to the point where all we can do is watch and laugh! & Be the examples we want to be to stand apart from the rest! Peace to you and the best wishes to you as well!!

reply to post by loam


Those videos are priceless! Walmart is one of the only places you see literally a little bit of everything, every type of person you could think of. And honestly.. it should make some of us feel better about ourselves, hehe. I remember a few years back walking behind maybe a 300+ pound women in booty shorts and fur boots, and to see way too much of her ..crack..then I wanted to, I told my friend to look (which was probably rude) but she simply stated, "What? It's Walmart. That is the Norm." I thought.. my goodness, it really is. It is also the first place I met a literal "bearded" women checking me out at the counter. It is a good confidence booster if you're ever feeling down and weird, just walk in to remember, you're not that bad! lol

P.S. Just sent those videos to my friends, I had to! Thank you for sharing!

Originally posted by Allegorical
How do you know how long the line originally was? The lady could have been in the line much longer than you observed. How often does she frequent that store and what is her average wait time?

I myself have been irritated to wait in a line of four or five people in a store with 10 registers and only one register open at any given moment.

I find it weird that a woman that you do not know said something to someone (NOT YOU) that you overheard in passing and it irked you so much that you went home and blogged about it without any facts to support your idea.

Next time try to mind your business and just enjoy YOUR day.

I wonder what you REALLY didn't like about her

Well, I have eyes. I can see. I can even see what's in the baskets of people in front of her and estimate the wait time. I'm pretty good at doing that, like anyone else who shops and tries to get in the shortest line.

It's WAL-MART! Anyone who shops there long enough will encounter lines that have to curve to accommodate the number of people in them so that they don't end up in the department across from the checkouts. This often happens at night.

She was commenting to the person with her. My gosh, is it so hard to believe? No facts? You need facts to believe what I just said? OK!

I actually was searching for a specific candy as I passed her, so I was looking past her and the people in front of her. I have those ultrasensitive ears I guess. When people within a 6 foot radius of me speak, I hear them.

I hope this satisfies you, or maybe you'd like me to sign an affidavit.

Originally posted by loam
Finally, if I frequent a place where I receive consistently bad service and where there are alternatives, I just simply go elsewhere.
Problem solved.
Otherwise, I'm back to my people watching mode, thinking how life and its experiences produce so many very odd people.

edit on 5-8-2012 by loam because: (no reason given)

Yep, this is Wal-Mart though. The times I notice the lines are actually really long are often at like 11pm. If you go shopping there, you might get cold stuff (groceries) or just get a lot of stuff in your basket. Thus, you have invested time there. If you notice a long line, you will waste even more time just leaving and coming back, shopping for it all over again, and then waiting in another line, though it would probably be a shorter line.

The best time to go is in the morning around 8:30...everyone is starting their shifts, they are more pleasant, and the lines are always short.

Originally posted by ColoradoJens
reply to post by Allegorical

 

Silence is golden.

CJ

And I really forgot to make a point that you remind me of...and that is that it's people like her (and there are plenty) that are the reason why eventually the stores will be flooded with TV screens and sounds and motion. It's already distracting with all the product labels. Everything is meant to capture attention.

In another WM store, there are flat screens hanging from the ceiling. They talk to you while you're in the aisles, and they're impossible to ignore unless....you have headphones in! ...or a very good pair of earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones. It's such an invasion of the mind and personal peace to be bombarded with messages all day.

I would be pissed off if I had to listen to a freakin' TV while I waited in line. I heard they were thinking of doing that using sound that could be directed in a very narrow range (like a laser, but wider). THey were saying that they could deliver targeted ads to customers in the store that way without disturbing everyone else. What about the person just trying to focus and shop for whatever they're looking for? I hope they never do it.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
I wonder if another possibility may explain it?

Just to be clear, I was not in front of this woman, so her comments were not at all taken personally. I was passing her and looking at the candy selections looking for a certain one that they...apparently no longer carry, at least in the 4 or 5 checkouts I checked. So, I was looking past her and the 2 people in front of her for the 3 Musketeers Truffle Crisp Bars (so good, but high in sugar...eat moderately).

I ended up going for a Reese's...

Originally posted by usmc0311
I stopped watching television a few years ago. I also have my laptop which never leaves home. I do have an Iphone but I usually do not carry it and I still only use it to make phone calls or acassionally check the weather if I am out hunting. Being unplugged just makes you feel better.

I have an iphone that was given to me broken. I repaired it and kept it. I don't have it serviced with data, though, even though there are times when it would come in handy to compare prices or get reviews for things. Reasons are two fold: 1) I somewhat boycott at&T by having pre-paid minutes only...and 2) like you said, I'm connected enough at home. When I'm out, I feel free. Nothing to check. No email or online-only texts or anything like that.

I always feel better after a walk or run with just me and the trees and the quiet. And, when I'm in the car, I sometimes just like it quiet. For about a year, I never put on the radio, to try to get rid of songs sticking and playing in my head. It didn't work...just made certain ones I'd inevitably hear get stuck. (So many places you can't avoid that play music.)

reply to post by Katharos62191


Since you mentioned that...yea, earlier today I saw a girl with a skin tight shirt that was flexible enough to make it look like it was painted on. Well, it showed her 'rolls' in full detail. Her belly button could have been a bulls eye. It was so...worthy of, What the hell were you thinking leaving the house in that?

This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to 'howl at the moon' from time to time (if you catch my drift!).

I can't post it all without a possible violation, but you would probably really really like reading the rest. He got over 28,000 "helpful" votes...it's one of the best reviews on amazon.

Review link

reply to post by daynight42


That was the best amazon review ever. Thanks for posting. I need a wolf shirt pronto.

CJ

Originally posted by Snaffers
Run away, run away.
Just one second, and I was left with nothing.

'Opeth - Demon of the fall'

I have to ask.. what or who in the hell is that in your avatar???

Originally posted by loam
reply to post by daynight42

 

I thought smart phones eliminated this problem.

Seriously, some people have no sense of scale.

When I'm in long lines, I go into immediate people watching mode grateful I'm nothing like half of them.

I thought everyone did that!

I got to say...Wal-Mart is the best place to people watch! I try not to go there unless I absolutely need to but, it always provides a little bit of entertainment in itself.

Originally posted by Tethane
What makes me sad is this woman has the best possible entertainment and interaction standing next to her! I often wait in queues, I'm British after all, queues are our "thing" rather than crave some sort of video screen the logical solution would be to turn to her queuing neighbour and strike up a conversation. Most people are so absorbed with technology, ipods. phones, television screens, that they forget the most rewarding form of entertainment is just chatting with your fellow man/woman.

I could not even begin to tell you how many times I do this, nearly daily, there are so many interesting people in this world why waste our time in these stressful moments increasing our levels of stress by just focusing on what we deem a problem and not an opportunity.

So in future, and that goes for everyone, just strike up a conversation with someone, you never know who they might be and what you might learn.

edit on 5-8-2012 by Tethane because: Stupid typos

I live in Texas and in my town most people do exactly that! Our local Walmart even has video screens that you could watch if you got bored waiting in line and most folks don't even notice that they are there. It's extremely common for people to get into conversations with strangers in the check out line, at local sports games, at school band and choir concerts, while waiting for kids to get out of dance or karate class, etc. We all live in the same town so why not get to know each other?

Or we could... talk to the person in front of us (omgWHATthat'sCRAZYtalk!!!). Just saying.

(side note: Albertsons has tvs at the front of the checkout lines. Words cannot express how annoying that is to me. I go outside my home to get AWAY from stuff like that!)

What do you expect. Your post started with "Today I was at Walmart". There's a website dedicated to the folks who shop Walmart. Not saying your one of them, but some of the things I've seen in Walmart would make a bear blush. Check out that site....people of walmart .com

reply to post by daynight42


If you walk into a Subway, supermarket, or anywhere that's gonna have a lineup of more than 10 seconds, you see practically every person in the line will have their phone out and will be playing on it. It is disturbing I know. Welcome to the future! We won't even need to leave the house soon enough, everything will be done through the internet or our avatars lol

reply to post by Katharos62191

Oh wait, we already have televisions every whereeeee.

At gas stations now. While I pump my gas, which takes all of about 2 minutes, maybe 4 if I get a slow pump or have to fill up - I can watch GSTV, Gas Station Television. Seriously.

In response to the OP -

I am, by nature, a fairly quiet person. I am friendly and will smile when I pass you, but I love quiet time, and am not one to draw attention to myself.

More often than not, when in any store, I feel like I get too much "entertainment". People talking, a toy going off in another aisle, someone near me on their phone, a game being played in Electronics, televisions playing a looped feed, a baby crying... I get exhausted and overwhelmed just listening to all of it.

So I have taught myself to zone out while waiting in line. I spend these moments thinking of something good that just happened for me, or saying little prayers for people that I'm worried about, or I just blank my mind and breathe. It's amazing how after waiting in line for 10 minutes or so almost doesn't seem like enough time when you've put yourself in that state of mind.

I've heard people make similar statements. I know people who cannot leave home without their laptop or phone. They use them during an entire car ride to the store, and will sometimes carry them through the store. Entertainment 24/7.

It's amazing. Although it does lead to some great "zone out" thinking time. I just imagine what would happen, and how lost these people would be, if for some reason we were unplugged for an extended amount of time. Days? Weeks? A year? How entertaining would these people be by then?