I had to do one of my least favorite things this evening. I had to step through the doors of the local Wal-Mart. Even in the nice area where I live, Wal-Mart is a Mecca for the lost souls of humanity. And to add insult to injury, they are remodeling our store, so the interior reminds me of the countless “end of the world” movies that I have seen throughout my life. Mad Max himself was passing out shopping carts as we came in.
The place is completely torn up. I wasn’t sure they were even open. I figured I’d wandered into a fire sale, or the local Goodwill. Nothing can be found where it should be. The barbeque sauce is located in the same aisle as the bras, and the shoes are in the pots and pans. We found ourselves in the electronics section, and it was even more apocalyptic back there. When we had to check out, we discovered that there was no way to exit through the door we entered through, so we had to walk the entire way back to the car through the darkened parking lot (because there are no street lights during the end of the world.) I couldn’t help thinking they should hang a big sign out front.
“Pardon our mess while we navigate the apocalypse.”
Perhaps I should hang that sign across my chest. It sort of feels like a running theme in my life right now. Cleaning up after the destruction is always a bit challenging. I can never find a big enough broom. But somehow the smoke always manages to clear after a while. And we are now in a permanent no smoking section. I would love to say that everything is back to normal again, but time does heal all things, and I need to keep saying that over and over again to myself so I will begin to believe it. We shall overcome, and all that.
Life really isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes strength of character. Luckily we have that around here. It’s what separates us from the others. That and a really high IQ.
I’m not quite ready to give up my faith in humanity just yet, but I will be making much more careful selections when picking my friends. I’m still in shock after discovering the behavior of another parent, who I trusted with the care of my children. At least I know I won’t make that same mistake again!
Until the next time…Background checks for everyone!