While in Wal-mart...

Today when I caved in and finally did my grocery shopping today at Wal-mart, I was a little surprised by what the sales clerk told me as I checked out. She said that there was a new law that all alchohol purchases would be "carded"...sounds reasonable. She said that all there was a new policy where all checks would need to have I.D....sounds good. And then all credit card/debit card purchases would still not need proof of an I.D. Huh? I am pretty sure it would be easier to use someone else's debit or credit card than to write a check on their account. Wouldn't it make sense to "card" on those also?

I have decided that all persons who choose to ride around in their little motor carts need to have a notice given to them that they are not the only people in the store and they do not always have the right-of-way. I would also like for Wal-mart to post "shopping ettiquette" about how to manage one's shopping cart while respecting the cart and space of those around you.

I also have decided that while it may save Walmart a lot of money, I do not like being responsible for loading my cart up with the bags while the cashier is still ringing up my items. I like to make sure that they are ringing up correctly, and there needs to be and extra employee to help load those carts. I am sure this is a win-win for Wal-mart, who does not have but one employee per register and may actually get to overcharge on a few items if the customer is not paying attention, but it needs to be corrected.

Also while I was in Wal-mart the chip guy who was restocking his products wanted to make sure I knew that now instead of frying their chips in the bad oils, all Frito-Lay chips with a sunflower on the bag are fried in sunflower oil. He said that the company decided to switch to better oils, since people are going to eat chips no matter what. (Isn't that kind of sad--that we as Americans really have so little self-control and so little awareness of what is acceptable for our health that the chip companies are having to step up and make some better decisions for us.) I am glad that the unknowing person is actually going be purchasing a little bit healthier product from now on.

In light of my "new healthy lifestyle" I have been purchasing more and more products that are healthy. I can't help but notice that although it is certainly getting easier, it is still far cheaper and easier to purchase the products that are horrible for health. Everytime I saw a hugely obese person picking up something that I knew was full of artery-clogging fats and diabetes-iinducing sugars, I wanted to stop them. In Gary's line of work, he sees many people who could live happier lives if they would simply alter their eating habits. I am not saying that it is easy...but it could be made much easier. If grocery stores, food manufacturers and restaurants made healthier choices a little less expensive, much more accessible and marked them more clearly with information that the average person understood, perhaps more people would be persuaded to eat them. I think most people know that what they are eating is not good for them, but they don't really know what the alternatives really are. We have been conditioned to eat these foods, we don't really know what else is out there, and we are a little scared to try what we have heard is out there. I have been amazed at how my taste buds and my cravings have adjusted since I revamped what we eat. As much as I hate to admit it, every time I go to Walmart, I find more and more healthy options. They are still not as easy to find, but they are there. I am glad that they have stepped up, and I hope that it is not merely for profit, but also for the good of people's health.