Fight Club
Have you ever been in a fight before? I’ve done various types of training that are related to fighting like boxing, and Brazilian jiu jitsu, but I haven’t been in an actual fight. This morning while I was in a local Walmart duringa points run, I thought I might have my first chance at one.
It started off with a guy from Africa behind me in line. I’d seen him there several times before, as he stands out a bit. He’s always been dressed in the latest fashion: Air Jordan shoes, trendy colors and styles, sunglasses, form fitting clothes, and all at 7:15 a.m. I remembered him as a money sender and also an ass, as he’s loud and usually rude to the Walmart employee trying to help him. The fact that he’s from Africa doesn’t have anything to do with his behavior, there are jerks everywhere and he’s just one example.
I did my transaction and stood off to the side afterwards, organizing my information and getting out of the way for the next in line. I get self conscious about holding up others in a line, any line, even if it adds to my timeline. The customer service representative (CSR) at the Money Center (MC) asked him for his ID to start his transaction. He asked in a loud and annoyed tone why he needed an ID. A few questions popped into my mind during this process:
If you send money to someone regardless of country of origin, don’t you assume that you’ll need an ID. And if you send money overseas, don’t you also assume that you’ll need an ID?
The CSR explained calmly that Walmart’s had a recent policy change (in the last month) that required his ID. I didn’t know if that policy change was tied to a certain send amount or if it was universal regardless of how much you send. However, I do know that the CSR who was helping him was well informed, as she’s worked there for nearly 20 years and knows all the Money Center rules up, down, forward and back. It seems like in each WM, there’s generally 1 person at the Money Center that really knows the store rules and policies, often better than managers do. In this case, she’s that person.
Upon hearing he needed an ID to send money (to Africa I’m assuming), he was enraged. I would describe his tone as yelling, but at the very least his voice was raised to the point of being very uncomfortable and able to be heard far away from the Money Center desk. He swore several times and was pointing at the CSR. He asked why he should show an ID when he was in the store the day before and wasn’t asked for an ID. If I translated his tirade, it would be “Me, Me, and Me”. Put another way, it’s his world and we were just living in it.
By coincidence a front end manager was close by and walked over. The CSR announced that she wasn’t going to help him if he kept swearing at her. After a minute or so of ranting, he left and left. I thought he left for good, but he returned shortly after leaving. Meanwhile I had gotten back in line and stood next to an older lady who is also a frequent flyer to that particular store. Angry African guy came back in and stormed past, and in front of, us in line and was clearly fuming. I waited a minute and wondered what I should say, as I had had enough of people throwing tantrums inside of WM stores to people I know and like who work there. It puts off my day and surely theirs too. It also seemed like thing were going to escalate if I didn’t say anything, so I figured there wasn’t much to loose.
So after a minute or so of thought, I told him that he needed to get back in line and that he’s not going to cut in front of us. He looked at me incredulously, seemingly bewildered that I would say something to him when he’s clearly at his peak irritation. I explained that we had been waiting in line since he left, and he didn’t like that. Again he through a hissy fit and raised his voice to all in the room, explaining that he “was the one who had been waiting” and that he “was just standing there, so he should go back to the front of the line”. I asked him if he thought it was ok to jump in front of the older woman who was standing next to me. “Fine” he exclaimed insincerely, and walked back to the end of a 2 person line. The lady and I did our brief transactions and again, I stood to the side of the line after finishing. I purposefully waited until he was finished in case there was a problem, or in case he became more threatening.
After just a couple minutes of waiting he was able to send money and do his transaction. I believe he mumbled “sorry” to the CSR before leaving, but he also mumbled something as he walked past me as he left, which I believe was “F*#% You”. He looked back at me as he was in the exit/entrance area of the store and didn’t look happy.
Bad Attitude, Bad Guy
Before this morning and based on the interactions I had witnessed before, I had thought of the guy as a prick who doesn’t seem to care much at all about others. I had never heard the guy say thank you after any past transactions that I had witnessed, and he’s always seemed to have a gift for being at least mildly confrontational with CSR’s at the store. This morning I noticed that he is not only unhappy, but that he sees himself as a victim, which usually goes hand in hand. He’s an immigrant to the US from Africa. I’m guessing he has a much better and free-er life than he did before coming to this country, yet he acts like is a victim, as if he was owed something.
What he did and the way he acted was like a child. His emotional outburst was similar to a 5 year old that doesn’t get his way. I’ve heard many similar tirades in Walmart (and other stores) in the past and haven’t said anything to the perpetrator in any of those instances. But I’m tired of people being asses in Walmart, and I’m not going to stay quiet about it anymore. If violence did occur as a result of speaking up, my safety concern isn’t a hand to hand fight with someone, the fear is a hidden knife, gun, or other weapon either used in the store or out in the parking lot. Unfortunately in the US, you just never know, and it’s just part of the territory with manufactured spending and Walmart runs.
Other Safety Issues
Walmart is an interesting place. I’ve seen people hopped up on drugs at 7 am, others stealing merchandise and walking out the front door, people yelling at store employees, and other messes of humanity. Certainly there can be odd things and safety issues that happen nearly anywhere, but certain places and stores have higher frequencies of incidents than others. There’s an interesting Bloomberg article on some of the safety issues and theft that are ravaging Walmarts all around the country.
If you’re manufactured spending and have Walmart in your rotation of store stops, there are safety issues to think about. Some people walk in and around Walmart and stores like it with several, if not tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods. There is no real security at Walmart so if someone wanted to commit a crime and grab those goods, it would be pretty easy. There’s a false sense of security at Walmart, and if you’re one of the people who visits there frequently, you should definitely be aware of your surroundings.