The Dreaded "W" Word

Now sometimes weekends include trips “down the mountain” to either Pueblo – where the mall is – or Canon City – where the Wal-Mart is, both about an hour away. I can now understand why country people drive big trucks. It took quite a bit of maneuvering for Dana – a self-acclaimed master packer – to cram the booty just from Target into our Durango. When we closed on the house here, we had to actually drive up to Canon to the title company. And those words you dread, those words that identify you truly as someone who lives in the sticks, were uttered from Dana’s mouth: I need to go to Wal-Mart. Time stood still. The birds went silent, clouds ceased to float. It was like being in a hick Matrix. Life would never be the same. Of course, when we got to W**-***t, we still experienced the horrible service that we had always experienced there; but this time, we were at their mercy. We HAD to be there. Very discouraging. Perhaps that is why people always look so down in the mouth at Wal-Mart, except of course in the commercials.