Have You Ever Done This?

Photo by Spangler Candy Company of Dum Dum lollipops

The day was October of 2022 and it was a Wednesday. I was going grocery shopping. I pulled into the parking lot and we went into the store. The “we” was my Mom and me. Because of her medical issues, she doesn’t go out much. This time, she was with me. She’s supposed to get out and be active, so walking the aisles of the grocery store is perfect exercise.

So I grabbed a cart and she followed behind me. Our first stop was the pharmacy. She had to pick up a few prescriptions. Once we got those, we left to pick up a few items on the subsequent aisles. She needed some toothpaste. I needed deodorant and hand soap.

As we were leaving the area to walk back toward the back, she pointed out to me that the Christmas trees were already up. I never like to see those so early. They should at least wait until Thanksgiving before they put everything out. At least this year they waited longer. One year they had everything out in August. That is waaaayyyy too early!

Once we got to the Electronics, I took a spin down a couple of aisles. I wanted to see how much a wireless mouse was. It turns out they were only $10. Pretty good deal. I didn’t buy it though. My laptop has an old IBM corded mouse plugged in. It is several years old and was giving me problems. I made a mental note of it and I’ll look into it if I need it later.

What I was really there for was a Cat6 cable so I could connect my laptop to my cable modem. I had decided on the 14 ft. cable. That’s pretty long but I figured if I want to move it somewhere further away from my desktop, that would be the right size. It was also the right price coming in at $6.98. This was the second week that I had tried to get one. The first week, the website said they were in stock. When I got there it wasn’t. I asked an employee and he told me they would be in the next day. Well, I only go to the store once a week. So I thought I would just get it this week. Guess what? They weren’t in stock again. This time I talked to a woman. She said as fast as they are put on the shelves, they are gone. I wouldn’t think that would be a top seller but apparently it is. Of course, I wouldn’t need this cable if I had a wireless router. But have you seen the prices on those? It’s not affordable for me now. As an update, I finally was able to get the cable but I’ve hardly used it. Go figure.

So we head to the grocery area. I pull out my list. I usually go straight to the water, if that is on the list. It was today but I had a clear shot onto the potato chips aisle, so I took it. Luckily, the chips were in stock. Sometimes they are not. Then, I went down to get the Dum Dum Suckers. I was dismayed when I saw they only had the Tropical Flavors. I had gotten those a few weeks ago and I wanted the Regular Flavors. But we were running out, so I put them in the cart. I noted the price was $4.88. Now try to remember the suckers. This plays a crucial part in the question that was posed in the title.

Onward we moved until we reached the cookies. We picked up some cheap ones for $1.62. Then I pointed the cart toward the water. As luck would have it, they were out of the water we usually get. I had to go with the 35 pack instead of 28. Then something happened that has never, ever happened in Walmart. A man who was stocking that was not a Walmart employee, asked us if we needed help loading the water. I told him I thought I had it but thanks. What I wanted to tell him was, could you come out to the car and load it in? Once the amount of bottles goes up from the 28 I’m used to handling, it gets tough. I once tried to lift one of the ones with 40. There was no way that was coming into the cart. So we spin over and get the milk. Our kind wasn’t in stock for the second straight week. At least this time, they had alternate ones to pick from.

So we move through the aisles getting what we need and some items are in stock while others are not. We have to substitute as usual.

I took one more look at the list and then I saw it. I said to my Mom, “We forgot to get the aspirin.” The aspirin that is all the way back on the other side of the building. Unfortunately, we only had 2 pills left so we had no choice but to go over there and get it.

Side note: You should always pull the list out once you get in the store. I usually don’t take it out until I’m over at the grocery section. It has bitten me in the butt too many times. I think I can remember it since I look at it the night before and seem to memorize it. As you’ve seen, it doesn’t always work.

So we walk all the way back over to the other side and find the aspirin. As we are walking back toward the checkouts, I see the Regular Dum Dum suckers. They are in a box on the shelf for Halloween. I saw the price was listed for $2.28. So she told me to get those instead since that is what we wanted and it was cheaper.

Now comes the question from the title. Have you ever walked around the store and come across someone who has dumped another product on the shelves? I have seen that so many times. It always makes me disgusted because they couldn’t take the time to take it back to where they got it. I never could understand that. You might see someone who had dropped some toy and left it next to the cookies or left a book within the clothing department.

I have to admit, I had to do it that day. Ahhh!!!! Once we found the Regular Dum Dums, we had to get rid of the Tropical Flavors.

Here is the conversation:

Me: We’ll have to walk it all the way back (to the other side of the building).

Mom: No, we don’t have to. I can’t walk all the way back over there.

Me: I can’t leave it here.

Mom: We can just dump it here. Everyone else does.

Me: OOOOkay. (I think I mentioned that we are not everyone else.)

And then, I became one of the dumpers. I plucked the bag out of the cart and placed it with all of the other Regular Dum Dums.

I can’t believe I have now joined all of the guilty parties. I have never done that before. Ever.

So when we got home, I looked at the receipt as I always do. What a surprise it was when I saw that the Dum Dums were not priced $2.28 but $4.88, the same price as the other ones. It’s the typical bait and switch, one price on the box and another price at checkout.

Conclusion

Let’s hear from you. Have you ever done this before? Be truthful. If you have, let us know what you got rid of and why.

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Until next time, happy reading!

-Matt