Cross another one off my bucket list.
For the first time today I learned what it feels like to spend a half hour in a Walmart freezer.
Twenty-two of us were shoehorned into a freezer at the 7th Street Walmart Neighborhood Market after the tornado siren sounded this afternoon.
Last night, I debated with myself about whether I should pick up some groceries, but I decided to wait until today. I checked the weather before I left and thought I would have enough time to get my groceries and return home before any possible tornadic activity hit the city.
At that point, it wasn't even raining, though it was sprinkling a bit.
I had my basket filled and was ready to check out, when I heard the tornado siren. An announcement was made over the loudspeaker, but I couldn't quite make out what was being said. As I approached the checkout area, it came through loud and clear.
The store was going into Code Black.
The freezer I was in included three Walmart employees, a woman with a support poodle, another woman who had two children, a daughter who looked to be about 10 years old and a baby, which the woman was holding precariously on her hip. Thankfully, she handed the baby over to the 10-year-old after we had been in there for a while.
I felt bad for a couple of men who were wearing short-sleeved t-shirts.
Most of the people in the freezer had their eyes glued to their phones seeking any information they could find about the weather. I heard one say that the storm was hitting Carl Junction, though there was no mention of a tornado. "It always hits Carl Junction," another man said.
After about 15 minutes, some people left the freezer and stood in the area between freezers escaping the cold, but not necessarily a tornado if one hit.
One woman asked, "Are they letting people leave?"
Sadly, I recognized the voice as my own.
Thankfully, there was no tornado.
It wasn't much longer before we were given the OK to leave the freezer area. I picked up my basket, which I had placed around the corner, picked up two or three more items and headed for checkout.
It was the first time I could ever remember a Walmart seeming warm
6 comments:
All those sheeple in the cooler I’d figured they would be warm must have just been sheared. Folks think for your self, I sure wouldn’t listen to Walmart employees, no offense intended just my opinion
Feel free to join the rest of the sheep Monday for storm cleanup in CJ. We won’t turn away help from anyone especially help from the opinionated.
Walmart employees are required to encourage shoppers to stay but can't force anyone to do so. Whether you decide to do so or not is your own decision.
9:26 we can’t be scared of everything all the time.
People must think for themselves, that’s the problem today nobody thinks for themselves.
I’ve never thought opinionated was a bad thing, I mean, sounds like you have one.
Thanks for helping them cleanup, much appreciated.
For many years, it was standard practice in retail to lock customers into the store and have them shelter in place with employees. Part of the issue was because of shoppers saying they wanted to leave, getting out to their car and changing their minds. By then, they would be locked out of the store, because it’s also standard operating procedure to lock the door for loss prevention. This became a different type of liability issue for the retailer. If a customer was hurt or killed trying to get back inside, but unable to because the doors were locked, people were suing. So, retailers took the stance that they are responsible for your safety while in their store. Sheltering in place is the better option over trying to outrun the storm. People used to have the ability to chose for themselves until we turned into a litigious culture where we would rather sue someone than accept personal responsibility. Be weather aware people.
The commenter suggests the inferior intelligence of a Wal-Mart employee while not using proper English. Hmmm, one should not cast stones living in glass houses.
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