The Life of a Walmart Employee

I started working at Walmart in November of 2017, and I currently work in apparel. Growing up, for some reason, Walmart just had a bad representation of the people who go there and who also work there; so for some reason, admitting that I work at Walmart has always been kind of embarrassing for me and I'm not sure why. I definitely don't want to feel that way and I don't want to stereotype people in any way shape or form. There are a lot of pros and a lot of cons to working at Walmart. The one I work at is the newest one built in my city so it's nicer than all of the other Walmarts we have here...but for some reason, some of the absolute worst people come into our store. I get it that bad people are everywhere, no matter where you work. But sometimes it feels like we get the worst of it. And there is something about the people that come into my store who have no sense of cleaning up after themselves... It's honestly unbelievable the mess that people make and then go and say, "Oh that's THEIR job to clean it up." Yeah sure, it is our job to literally pick up after you freaking animals, but if you had any sense of decency, you would pick up after yourselves and have the manners your momma taught you, IF she even did! So yeah, people can definitely be the cons of working at Walmart. But I've actually had encountered a lot of really cool, super nice people also. I would honestly say that I've received more good, honest people than I have bad. Very little have I experience people being complete assholes. Right before Christmas of last year, I actually had a lady sit down on the floor with me while I was folding shirts and tell me that she has noticed me the past few times she's come in and see's that I work hard and wanted to offer me a free pampering session because she worked with Mary Kay. While the gesture was definitely sweet and I totally needed that encouragement at the time, I blew her off with getting back to her about that pampering session. She ended up texting and calling me a lot being really pushy about it, and I'm not gonna lie, ghosted her, haha. She was sweet, actually maybe a little bit too sweet for my liking. As much as I would love to be outgoing and a people person, that's just not who I am and keeping up a conversation is literal work for me. Sorry bout that.

I've noticed since working at Chipotle and dealing with overall shitty people over there too, I've developed a sense of bitterness towards people in general. Any person I see who I can tell is about to ask me a question, I immediately get pissed off and try my hardest not to get an attitude with them. I think I pull the fake, sweet customer service voice off pretty good thankfully.

Another pro of working at Walmart is the free will I have. I can take my breaks whenever I wanted to, and go to the bathroom whenever I need to, also. I definitely couldn't do that with Chipotle. My job title isn't where I'm not always needed, so I can take my time with those things. Another pro is of how freaking easy the work is. There is a LOT of work, don't get me wrong, but the work within itself is so easy.

A general run down of what I do in apparel is, I get there, clock in, and see what break boxes full of clothes that are in the back that I need to bring out, put those on a cart and start working those clothes out onto the floor. I work in the girls/infants department so it's a lot of tiny little shirts and pants and socks and undies. Then at around 4 o'clock, I have to get a cart of "consumables" which are just diapers, baby wipes, formula, baby foot, sippy cups, etc... and when i'm done with that, I zone, which basically means to pick up whatever is on the floor, fold the clothes that are on the tables and make sure nothing is hanging over racks, yada yada yada, you get the point. Lots of work. But super easy.

A pro I also like is that I'm on my feet all day and get a lot of walking in. Some may definitely not like that, but it definitely beats sitting at a computer all day on your ass. For me, I need to feel productive and do stuff with my hands.

Another con, besides people being shitty and the mess they make, is the attendance policy Walmart has. They have a point system and will give you points for missing work, calling in, and being late. And your first 4 months of working, you only get up to 4 points before you potentially get fired. And after the 6 month mark, it goes up to 6 points and then a few more months after that, it goes up to 8 points, and yeah. It can be hard to work with especially when you're like me and have to call in a lot due to migraines from the heat of the summer that leaves me bed ridden. But lucky for me, I have the coolest manager who completely understands.

Another con is that management is normally more concerned with the numbers instead of the associates. Yes, some of the managers are more personal and understanding. But most of them, especially the store manager definitely has their priorities, and you're usually not one of them.

Another pro, however, is the pay. This past year, the starting pay at Walmart jumped up to $11 an hour. When I first started working there in November, I was only making $9 an hour, so I could definitely see the change in my bank account after that! Which is always good.

Another con is, dare is say..... Black Friday. Black Friday is quite possibly the dumbest, worst "holiday" (which shouldn't even be considered a holiday) to ever exist. I hate Black Friday with a deep purple passion, and I hate it even more since having worked last Black Friday 2017. I will never forget literally standing there scared as hell waiting for the time to hit 6 o'clock and as soon as it does, I had to rip open things taped in plastic wrap, and before I could even get the plastic completely ripped off, people were shoving me out of the way to do it themselves. I remember standing there having to watch people to make sure they weren't going to wrestle each other or steal anything and literally hearing screaming and yelling coming from across the other end of the store.... Black Friday is another way to bring out all the dumb assholes that are generally horrifying to work with.

Another pro, which can also be a con, is the people you get to work with! I'm normally a very friendly and open person and I can get along with anybody, so I made friends fast there. While others seem to have a harder time, especially girls. If one of your female coworkers looks at you the wrong way, then you automatically hate each other and that's just how that goes. Which I feel is just the way most girls are. I try to not be like that. I've made really good friends who I can tell will be in my life after the long run, and others...not so much. There is definitely some hostility towards certain people, but if you're a grown ass adult and can handle those situations, then there shouldn't be any problem! But alas, some grown adults don't know how to act right and thus creating hard situations for themselves.

In all honesty, I really do like working at Walmart. I love the free will of it and I love my coworkers. It's easy, but not too easy. The people definitely suck but they can also make my day better. No matter where I go or where I work, dumb people will always show up. But I can't hate them as much as I want to and I have to understand them. Just know that if you're one of those people that make the life of a Walmart employee harder than it has to be, then YOU'RE the joke that we get to tell our families about when we go home. You're the one that won't be taken seriously and you're the one that people will hate.

So, moral of the story..... Don't be an asshole!!! :)