Walking 10,000 steps in Walmart

We’ve had some rain lately.

I don’t mind walking in some kinds of rain, but I’m not wild about the kind Forrest Gump calls “big fat rain.”  It’s just too cold.

So, the past two nights, I finished my daily 10k steps inside Walmart.

One lap around the interior of the store is about 900 steps.  Sometimes I detour through the aisles in order to bump the number to 1000.

Sometimes I listen to books.  Sometimes I look at the merchandise (a little boring after a couple of laps).

But I can’t help but to watch employees haul out the palettes and stock the shelves — and they do this a lot when I’m there, generally fairly late.

Walmart employees work very hard — and I’m wondering if they work a little harder when they see me walking and observing.

It occurred to me, this morning, that there may have been some people working there last night who thought I was in management, from corporate.

It’s not that I’m dressed well.  I’m not.  But I’m constantly walking and watching.

Last night, I saw a manager sort of raise his voice to an employee.  He was barking instructions on which part of the floor to clean first.

I looked at him, and he looked back — and I think he may have slightly checked his tone with that employee. I think he may have thought I was somebody.  I kept walking.

Of course, he may have just thought I was a pest, getting in his way.

I do have an imagination, and I’ve held an added fascination with Walmart ever since I read (or listened to, rather, while walking) Cheap, the High Cost of Discount Culture.  And, the mind can do funny things — and those inside walks do seem much longer and are certainly more boring than walking in nature.  So, it’s more likely that nobody even noticed me at all.

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