That Does It...I'm Going Back To Work For Wal-Mart !

I've been running from Wal-Mart ever since I quit them back in 1995. Let me tell you, there is no way to escape those guys. Everywhere you go, it's Wal-Mart..Wal-Mart..Wal-Mart! There's no way around it. And if you think that you can find refuge by working for another retailer..guess again. Your new company will be trying to imitate them, or they will be full of ex-Wal-Martians from top to bottom.

When I left the company, I put all of the policies, procedures and merchandising tecniques behind me. I quit the company for several reasons and the last thing that I wanted to do was bring those reasons with me. However as I started working for other companies, I soon found out that the ex- Wal-Martians that I would encounter brought all of that along with them.

The first company that I worked for after I left in 1995 was Advance Auto Parts. My District Manager was an ex- District Manager for guess who? If you guessed Wal-Mart..you got it right. Of course the guy brought all of that Wal-Mart baggage right along with him. The sign on the front of the store might as well have read " Wal-Parts " or perhaps " Advance-Mart " I hung on for four years with that company, however four more years of Wal-Mart eventually got the best of me.

In 1999 I accepted the job as Assistant Manager with the company that I currently work for. My District Manager had been with the company for 25 years and my Manager was an ex-K Mart Manager. So far..no ex-Wal-Martians, however that was soon to change. After a year with the company, I was offered a transfer to our store here in Murray and I accepted the offer.

Of course my new Manager used to work for guess who? Again, if you guessed Wal-Mart, you are on the way to winning a prize which will be announced at the end of this article. Actually this guy had left all of that Wal-Mart baggage behind. I'll be the first to admit that he was complete a**s hole to work for, but at least he had left Wal-Mart behind, so I was able to hang on for 7 years.

However on the day after Christmas of last year, my District Manager handed me my now ex-manager's keys. Of course I didn't consider this to be bad news, however I was left wondeing who my next boss would be. A couple of weeks later, our new manager was announced. Our new manager turned out to be an ex-Hibbet Sports manager who also had 3 years experience with our company. I let out a sigh of releif. At least he wasn't another ex-Wal-Martian.

Six months would pass with sure bliss on my behalf, but again that was soon to change. Two weeks ago, our Manager called a meeting where he announced that he was transferring to another location and our new manager would stop by to introduce himself in a couple of days. Now would any of you want to guess who our new Manager used to work for?

Here we go again..another ex-Wal-Martian who has brought all of that baggage along with him. I'll have to admit that he's a very nice guy. However after only one week under his leadership, we now have a Wal-Mart style " action alley ". Instead of a recovery program, we now have " zone defense" and I'm sure that we'll be doing a Wal-Mart cheer tomorrow. After all of that, I'm just waiting for the sign on the front of our building to be changed.

There's no escaping these guys. Heck, I'm actually thinking about going back to work for Wal-Mart!

Now for all of you who got all of the answers correct, here's your prize. You get to be the ' squiggly ' during the Wal-Mart cheer at Wal-Mart store near you! ENJOY !