Walmartians and a good reminder to carry

[UncleGabby]

I used to make a point to hit Walmart early, as in between 5am and 7am, and there are still quite a few people around at that time that I want nothing to do with. While I’m up early, they’re up late. Caffeine is my drug of choice, those folks, only god knows. Also, at that time the place can be a little too empty. It’s probably better to have a few folks around. I have found 8am or 9am to be the sweet spot for (relatively) normal earth people shopping.

I also park pretty far away. I don’t mind walking and I feel no need to jockey for a prime spot. Also, I don’t like people meandering around immediately behind my vehicle when I’m clearly trying to back up.

One thing I do find annoying is that the remote corners of the Walmart parking lot, where I tend to meet people when buying and selling stuff from facebook marketplace or craigslist, are no longer uninhabited. On close inspection the random lone car sitting in the far reaches frequently has a dude reclining in the driver’s seat, maybe waiting on a girlfriend to finish her shift. Whatever he there for, that’s one more thing to avoid.

[Borderland]

Walmart is a no go for me where I live. Too many future parolees. My vehicle was damaged twice in the parking lot here by ne'er-do-wells. Small town with a gang problem.

My wife and I traveled up and down the west coast with an RV and spent the night in many Walmart parking lots in transit. Never had any problems, even in SoCal. I don't think it's a problem in most locations so I don't want to generalize.

Truckers and RVers in the west who need to stop someplace overnight usually hit the Walmats for food, a restroom and a place to park. The parking lots are usually empty in the late evening. We always called ahead while on the road to see if they allowed overnight parking. Some of them didn't.

[Duelist]

Amazon delivered (where legal) Pom Pepper Spray is the easy button.

https://www.amazon.com/POM-Black-Cli...1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Working downtown and having to walk about 2 blocks to my covered semi secured parking past a park and a convenience store has made me thankful to always have my orange paint handy.

So far so good.

They’ll even send you a whole box of it at once, so you can provide your significant other person(s) and won’t have to think about resupply for a while.

[Malamute]

These walmart discussion are interesting. i frequent 2 in very different parts of the country, in the small town rocky mt west, 100 miles from the nearest interstate its pretty much normal people, I generally see people I know, and I dont recall any true wackos or fruitcakes like are often described. Tourists in the summer can be a bit annoying at times, but not the level of other places apparently.

The other one is in the midwest, and sort of at the far end of town from most people and has less traffic. I refer to it as the hillbilly walmart, it seems more like country people than the other one in town. Ive seen a few pajama people, but nothing too extreme. Going on a sunday evening is really quiet. Daytime isnt too weird in general. No security guards like the other one in town.

I get most of my groceries at those two. I dont go out after dark for the most part, I dont like running into deer and elk on the way home in the west, and dont like some of the weird people out in the midwest after dark. Weird as in wanna-be gangster types, and a very few muggings. Theres drunk drivers out on weekends as well. In addition, its not gun friendly, especially for a non-resident. Seems to fit the stupids rule from my perspective. Stay home in the evenings, be happy. I slip out for a decent steak now and then, hardly any subversive activity by the steak joint.

[Hambo]

Walmart is a no go for me where I live. Too many future parolees.

It's that or real parolees at convenience stores (customers and employees). This sums up my attitude toward both Walmart and convenience stores.

[BobM]

I saw a video a few months ago that said Walmarts in more urban areas weren’t as well kept as ones in more rural areas. I hadn’t thought about it until then, but it does match my observations. I live in a more rural area but even then we got a lot of calls to Walmart. Pre Covid it was open 24 hours and I noticed the weirder people seemed to favor shopping after about 8PM on weekends.

[Malamute]

I saw a video a few months ago that said Walmarts in more urban areas weren’t as well kept as ones in more rural areas. I hadn’t thought about it until then, but it does match my observations. I live in a more rural area but even then we got a lot of calls to Walmart. Pre Covid it was open 24 hours and I noticed the weirder people seemed to favor shopping after about 8PM on weekends.

The definitely fits with my experience. The "other one" in the midwest is in the part of town with much higher crime rates, often has products on the floor like there was a herd of wild cattle pushed through, security guards, and just a more run down look and feel. The employees at the hillbilly one have told me they are on the bottom of the list for getting products since the other one has much more business.

One other Ive gone in semi-regularly is in Sidney NE, its not too bad. I get road supplies there now and then on trips. They mostly look like normal humans from rural western Nebraska.

[Lost River]

They’ll even send you a whole box of it at once, so you can provide your significant other person(s) and won’t have to think about resupply for a while.

Big cans of bear spray are not practical for carrying concealed on your person, but they work well for keeping in the vehicle. I figure since I spend enough time in bear country it is reasonable to have bear spray constantly handy and if I happen to grab bear spray to handle a situation within close proximity to my vehicle that I cannot drive away from, then it that should work. The aggressor is just getting a Grizzly size helping of "stay away" instead of a bullet.

[BobM]

My daughter and I went to the New Orleans Tac Con. We thought we needed a couple things from Walmart. We saw one between the range and the hotel Friday or Saturday evening. I drove into the parking lot and we decided we didn’t really need anything that couldn’t wait.

[camsdaddy]

Exactly why I make it a point to educate my wife and kids about the reasons not to engage in unnecessary arguments.

I thought I had done a pretty good job at this. My daughter left our small town to head to college in Athens. One day she is telling me she learned she should not make gestures in traffic after seeing one guy flipping off another and one of the two drawing a gun. Thankfully she able to get off the area quickly. I reminded her that sometimes our tails may be asked to cash the check that our mouths or fingers write.

I’ve also encouraged her to try not to go shopping such as Walmart alone or anywhere after dark.