Just started as a temp remodeling a local Walmart

[dpearson]

Today was my first day on my local Walmart remodel crew. I had some paperwork to fill out before orientation so I got there 30 minutes early. I got done with it all at 3:06 p.m. and join the rest of 2nd shift in the orientation.

The guy talking, I don't know his job title but I'm pretty sure he's the boss, is telling us the remodel crews are like subteams in a football team and that the remodel is like a football game. He said 2nd shift was his "speciality team." I almost puked my guts out.

Then he's telling us about the "Walmart culture", whatever that is. Something about not supervising the employees (oh I'm sorry, I mean associates).

The next thing he's covering is safety. I took two messages away from what he said. They are: Don't be a jackass and if a kid jumps in front of you while you're pulling a 500 pound pallet and gets hurt, it's your fault and you're likely to be fired.

The next thing we're doing is stretches. I have never felt like a bigger asshole in my life after the things I did during that.

And then, the grand finale. The Walmart Cheer. Oh yes, we did this where the customers could see us and I'm going to have nightmares. The Walmart Cheer goes something like this:

"Give me a W, A, L, M, A, R, T! What does that spell?? WALMART! I can't hear you! WALMART!!! Who's number one? The customer!! Whose Walmart is this? My Walmart! Yay!"

Also we're continuously clapping so my chanting was a little off. There was originally supposed to be a "squiggle", which was known in the '70s as a "twist", in between the L and M. The guys from the Distribution Center refused to do it so we left it out. They're pretty much my favorite guys on the crew now. I hope for my sanity that this was just a one time thing.

Also, for those people who think Walmart is an evil corporation, I agree with you and working for them was pretty low on my places I wanted to work for. But I live in a small town and employment opportunities are pretty slim so I take what I can get.

 

[QueBert]

fuck anyone who talks shit about you for doing what you gotta do to stay employed. Walmart might be evil, I don't know. But I do know when I shop there I save a ton of money even over Costco prices. If I gotta deal with the devil to keep more $$$ in my pockets then fuck it I'm a fan of the dark side.

 

[S Freud]

Has anyone ever seen the move High Cost of Low Prices? I watched it recently on Netflix watch instantly to kill some time. Pretty interesting but gets boring after a while.

 

[JEDI]

Has anyone ever seen the move High Cost of Low Prices? I watched it recently on Netflix watch instantly to kill some time. Pretty interesting but gets boring after a while.

summary?

 

[eits]

The next thing we're doing is stretches. I have never felt like a bigger asshole in my life after the things I did during that.

And then, the grand finale. The Walmart Cheer. Oh yes, we did this where the customers and I'm going to have nightmares. The Walmart Cheer goes something like this:

"Give me a W, A, L, M, A, R, T! What does that spell?? WALMART! I can't hear you! WALMART!!! Who's number one? The customer!! Whose Walmart is this? My Walmart! Yay!"

lol!

do yourself a favor... look around on top of the ceiling tiles while you're remodeling. a lot of employees of stores like to stash shit in the ceiling tiles so that they can steal it after inventory is done and they don't have the upc code in the system anymore. i found this out from a guy who did demo and had a goldmine worth of stuff from various jobs... i bought some of it off him on craigslist.

 

[dpearson]

fuck anyone who talks shit about you for doing what you gotta do to stay employed. Walmart might be evil, I don't know. But I do know when I shop there I save a ton of money even over Costco prices. If I gotta deal with the devil to keep more $$$ in my pockets then fuck it I'm a fan of the dark side.

Thanks. Even if I decide to stay on after the remodel,I hope this just turns out to be a college job.

do yourself a favor... look around on top of the ceiling tiles while you're remodeling. a lot of employees of stores like to stash shit in the ceiling tiles so that they can steal it after inventory is done and they don't have the upc code in the system anymore. i found this out from a guy who did demo and had a goldmine worth of stuff from various jobs... i bought some of it off him on craigslist.

As far as I know, we don't have ceiling tiles in the store. At least not in the main part where everyone does their shopping. You can see all the way up to the rafters and skylights. There might be ceiling tiles in the back areas, but I doubt it.

However, a guy I was working with said he got some really deep discounts on stuff that people returned -- the box was open and the store couldn't resell it. He said he got a $200 printer for $70, for example. So I might look into that.

 

[Azraele]

I worked in their bakery for a while. The bakery job itself was fun, the evil corporation was a nightmare. Ugh, those were some miserable days.

 

[edro]

I worked in electronics for a few years in high school.
I really liked it.

BTW... we always did the squiggly.

 

[Jeff7]

Yes......the memories will haunt me forever.

I worked nightshift. They tried to do that cheer stuff with us, fortunately in the break room. The nightshift managers eventually stopped, due to lack of anyone giving a damn. Some people would just stop going to the daily pre-shift meeting, and head right to the floor to start putting stuff on the shelves.

A customer once summed it up nicely upon hearing 1st shift's cheer, out on the salesfloor: "Is the goddamn circus in town?"

 

[rockyct]

That's funny. I went to Walmart for the first time in quite a while, and when I was in the back there was a pow wow going on like you describe. It was 9 PM or so though but the store was remodeling. They were stretching and stuff when I walked by and one guy appeared to have given a game plan for the night.

 

[JSt0rm]

sorry dude. life gets better just push through it.

 

[dpearson]

That's funny. I went to Walmart for the first time in quite a while, and when I was in the back there was a pow wow going on like you describe. It was 9 PM or so though but the store was remodeling. They were stretching and stuff when I walked by and one guy appeared to have given a game plan for the night.

Yeah I suppose they give game plans at my store too. I really don't pay attention and just do whatever everybody is doing.

sorry dude. life gets better just push through it.

I'm not really complaining. I just thought it was a funny experience to share here.

Also, today I saw a guy use a 6 or 7 foot pallet jack. It's pretty much the longest jack I've ever seen. It's used to carry two pallets at a time without stacking them.

But seriously guys, it is so big.

 

[rockyct]

Yeah I suppose they give game plans at my store too. I really don't pay attention and just do whatever everybody is doing.



I'm not really complaining. I just thought it was a funny experience to share here.

Also, today I saw a guy use a 6 or 7 foot pallet jack. It's pretty much the longest jack I've ever seen. It's used to carry two pallets at a time without stacking them.

But seriously guys, it is so big.

Was the pallet jack for Euro pallets or those 2/3rds sized pallets meant for really heavy stuff? Two normals pallets end to end is about 8 feet.

 

[S Freud]

summary?

Its just interviews with a lot of current and former Walmart employees and hiring managers. People from high up the corporate ladder and such. If you ever have time to kill and are interested its informative at the least.

 

[dfuze]

I've been to Target soon after it opens in the morning a few times and have witnessed a similar thing, so it's not just Walmart who likes to embarrass their employees.

 

[bignateyk]

Wow, i'm glad I never had to work retail. That would have scarred me for life.

As far as menial jobs go, landscaping FTW!

 

[DangerAardvark]

Today was my first day on my local Walmart remodel crew. I had some paperwork to fill out before orientation so I got there 30 minutes early. I got done with it all at 3:06 p.m. and join the rest of 2nd shift in the orientation.

The guy talking, I don't know his job title but I'm pretty sure he's the boss, is telling us the remodel crews are like subteams in a football team and that the remodel is like a football game. He said 2nd shift was his "speciality team." I almost puked my guts out.

Then he's telling us about the "Walmart culture", whatever that is. Something about not supervising the employees (oh I'm sorry, I mean associates).

The next thing he's covering is safety. I took two messages away from what he said. They are: Don't be a jackass and if a kid jumps in front of you while you're pulling a 500 pound pallet and gets hurt, it's your fault and you're likely to be fired.

The next thing we're doing is stretches. I have never felt like a bigger asshole in my life after the things I did during that.

And then, the grand finale. The Walmart Cheer. Oh yes, we did this where the customers could see us and I'm going to have nightmares. The Walmart Cheer goes something like this:

"Give me a W, A, L, M, A, R, T! What does that spell?? WALMART! I can't hear you! WALMART!!! Who's number one? The customer!! Whose Walmart is this? My Walmart! Yay!"

Also we're continuously clapping so my chanting was a little off. There was originally supposed to be a "squiggle", which was known in the '70s as a "twist", in between the L and M. The guys from the Distribution Center refused to do it so we left it out. They're pretty much my favorite guys on the crew now. I hope for my sanity that this was just a one time thing.

Also, for those people who think Walmart is an evil corporation, I agree with you and working for them was pretty low on my places I wanted to work for. But I live in a small town and employment opportunities are pretty slim so I take what I can get.

This is my nightmare. How did you keep from vomiting?

 

[blurredvision]

Has anyone ever seen the move High Cost of Low Prices? I watched it recently on Netflix watch instantly to kill some time. Pretty interesting but gets boring after a while.

I watched about 30-40 minutes of that before I turned it off and deleted it from my queue. Incredibly boring, and it basically revolved around Walmart driving out business from small towns and their poor health plans offered to workers.

As far as the chant, it definitely is soul crushing. I worked at K-Mart about 10 years ago right after high school, and they had a chant. Luckily the K-Mart wasn't open 24 hours, so we'd do it before the doors opened. I HATED it.

 

[ViviTheMage]

That's hilarous, it's like a cult.

 

[Oceandevi]

Wally world sucks. I worked dry grocery for about a year. Only guy there from 2-10 pm. also had to unload milk trucks, restock milk,frozen goods, unload dry goods trucks, gather carts, clean spills, help unload truck for the other half of the store, help customers, and anything else they can think up. 8 bucks an hour and doing the work of 4 people. And I got written up for not stocking every cart of new goods. no overtime and you only get half the day to do your actual job.

 

[biggestmuff]

lol!

do yourself a favor... look around on top of the ceiling tiles while you're remodeling. a lot of employees of stores like to stash shit in the ceiling tiles so that they can steal it after inventory is done and they don't have the upc code in the system anymore. i found this out from a guy who did demo and had a goldmine worth of stuff from various jobs... i bought some of it off him on craigslist.

You knowingly bought stolen merchandise?

 

[Jeff7]

That's hilarous, it's like a cult.

Have you ever heard "The Walmart Song"?

They actually play it on the Walmart Radio Network. Yes, it's a song about Walmart. Some pathetic band with absolutely no sense of self-respect did a song about Walmart.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Other stores have corporate cheers, not just Wal*Mart. It's a management thing.

They tried cheering a time or two while I worked third shift there, but the manager leading it just felt stupid and didn't persist in leading us anymore. You can't force enthusiasm. The third shift managers were cool and didn't force the cheer, it was the store manager that would try to instigate it on rare occasion.

Good thing about working nights was that customers left soon after work started and you didn't have to wear a blue vest, just a name tag. Oh and an extra $1/hr.

 

[eits]

You knowingly bought stolen merchandise?

it was never stolen, just stashed away and forgotten about by people who intended to steal them.

 

[dbailey]

At a local bakery in 1985. I was 15 and the owner interviewed me. After the interview she showed me around and told me what I had to do when I came in for work. She said, first clean this, then clean this, then this, this, this, this, this, this, this... I said ok, but I have one question, how much are you paying me? 'Minimum wage'.. which was 3.35 at the time. I said sorry, I won't do it and walked out. haha.