Celebrity at Walmart

There are a couple things I use at Walmart to size up the customers. The first one is competency on the self-checkouts. It is amazing the vast number of people who try to use them but are totally incompetent. I've often said that there should be a short aptitude test that must be passed before being allowed to use them. Secondly, I watch what people do with their carts or baskets after paying for their merchandise. The polite ones return them to their designated places, while the self-absorbed, inconsiderate ones leave them sitting wherever, with no concern about blocking the way of fellow-shoppers or causing extra work for the associates.

Last night, my last hour of work was spent monitoring the self-checkouts, and at one point it became interesting when a celebrity (well, a local celebrity) came through. It was Garick Zikan of WCYB News5. Of course, I was curious to see how competent he was at using the machine. He sailed through the whole process like a pro, and he was very polite, as well. He spoke kindly and was concerned about what to do with the basket he had used to carry his items. Thank you, Mr. Zikan, for being a model shopper.