The People of Walmart : Observations and Stories

Sunset at Walmart in North Charleston SC

In April of 2025 I got laid off from an I.T. Contract at the Department of Health in South Carolina. I had been there for 3 years at the time I got laid off. The state was utilizing Federal Covid relief funds to pay for all of the AppleOne Contractors that helped to supplement the internal I.T. department. One day we got on a conference call and they told us that we had another 5 days of employment then we would no longer be needed. This was not the first time this has happened to me. The older you get the harder it is to find good employment.

Instead of continuing to look for another I.T. job I told my wife Katy that I would start to draw my Social Security benefits at the age of 63. I was eligible and the money was sitting there for me to take. Since Social Security benefits were about 800.00 less than my net income when I was working the I.T. contract I had to work a part time security job with Allied Universal Security to make up the difference. I have always worked a part time security job to make ends meet.

If you are considered to be a senior citizen after the age of 55 your options for employment are very limited. Security companies will hire you if you can pass a drug test and criminal background check. Walmart is also a good option. Do you remember the days of the greeters that would welcome you to the store? Yeah, those days are long gone. Now we have self check out and API (Asset Protection Investigators) who check your receipts and look at your stuff before you are allowed to go out the door. Basically, if you can fog a mirror they will hire you.

Working security means that you will work evenings and weekends. I was assigned to the Walmart in North Charleston as a patrol officer. I worked from 6 pm to 12 midnight and I drove a patrol vehicle out in the parking lot. What were my responsibilities? My first responsibility was to show up on time in a clean uniform. The second thing I had to do was stay awake. You might think that staying awake would be a very easy thing to do.

On many occasions I would work my I.T. contract from 7 am to 3 pm and then would put my security uniform on and go work a 3 pm to 11 pm shift on a post somewhere. That made for a very long day and it was easy to drift off to sleep. For the most part security jobs are very boring. Boredom means that unless you find ways to stay active you can drift off to sleep. If the client catches you doing that you will be moved to another post or if you have been disciplined (written up) multiple times they will just fire you.

Here is a quick history of Walmart and how it began.

Walmart began with the vision of Sam Walton, whose goal was simple: offer low prices and great value to everyday customers. The company’s story starts in 1962, when Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas. His approach — high volume, low margins, and relentless efficiency — quickly set Walmart apart.

Early Growth

Before Walmart existed, Walton operated a five‑and‑dime store called Walton’s 5 & 10, purchased in 1950. That experience shaped his retail philosophy and laid the foundation for Walmart’s expansion.

By the late 1960s, Walmart had grown to 24 stores across Arkansas and soon expanded into Missouri and Oklahoma. Walton’s strategy of placing stores in rural areas — where big competitors weren’t — helped Walmart dominate local markets.

National Expansion

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Walmart expanded aggressively across the South and Midwest, acquiring smaller chains and opening new specialty divisions like pharmacies and auto service centers. By 1983, Walmart launched Sam’s Club, its membership‑based warehouse model.

Now, back to the people of Walmart and my role as a security officer in the parking lot.

One of my other roles for parking lot security was to make sure the No Parking Zone (Fire Zone) in front of the store stayed empty. The only people who are authorized to park in the No Parking Zone are First Responders. If you are a law enforcement officer, Fire Fighter or EMS then you can park your emergency vehicles in that No Parking Zone.

The No Parking Zone is not there for people to be lazy and do not want to take the time or effort to find a parking spot and walk into the store like a normal person. Ride Share drivers are the worst offenders. They use that job title as if they are entitled to drop off their customers in front of the store and wait for them to come back out with their stuff.

In my role as a security officer in the parking lot I would park my patrol car in front of the store by the No Parking Zone and I would have the overhead light bar running so people could see me. Man those lights were bright. How could you miss them? You would think that people would recognize the fact that I was there and watching activity there. You would think that my mere presence with the uniform and patrol vehicle would deter people from doing something stupid.

I am here to tell you that the general public could care less. I wrote something else and I had to erase that. LOL.

Here is the mindset of most people visiting Walmart. I am a customer and as your customer I am here to give you my hard earned money for cheap imported stuff from China. As such I am entitled to park where I want to park which includes handicap parking, fire zones or anywhere else I deem fit to park my GIANT 4x4 truck or Semi Tractor rig with the 80 foot trailer. Oh, lets not forget dump trucks or vehicle transport vehicles which are regular pick up trucks with a giant trailer behind them with cars on them.

The goal is to park your rig wherever is convenient and exit the vehicle and run into the store before someone (ie security) sees you and stops your forward progress.

I already covered the Fire Zone in front of the store. That is self explanatory. Now lets talk about my pet peeve, the handicap parking spaces. For a lot of people those spaces are spaces of convenience and if they are empty then you can park there if you want. I mean, who really cares? Those state mandated and authorized handicap parking signs are there for the sole purpose of designating those spaces for people who are handicapped and have a handicap placard on their dashboard or a specialized handicap license plate on the vehicle.

I used to love to catch people trying to park in handicap parking spaces. I know that THEY know that what they are doing is wrong. Nevertheless I always approach the people and educate them on why the parking spaces are designated for handicapped people. I would ask them if they saw the sign in front of their vehicles. I was always nice and let the people know that I believed that they did not realize what they were doing. I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

Most people would just apologize and move their vehicle. Then there are the asshats that feel as if they are entitled to park wherever they please. Remember, they are customers and they are there to spend money. That alone gives them the right to do as they please. Here are some of the things they would say.

My spouse or grand parent just went into the store and that is why I parked here. I will only be here a few moments. Again, Rideshare drivers will park in handicap spots if they cannot park in the firezone in front of the store. If there is no security present or they are not seen then all bets are off and they park wherever they want.

On several occasions I have had belligerent people tell me to go fuck off. What exactly are you going to do about it they would ask. In other words they would call my bluff. Honestly, they are right. Walmart management is not going to have anyone towed out of a handicap spot or from a fire zone.

What is the caveat to this? If there IS a medical emergency or an incident that requires law enforcement or Fire Department to be on the scene they can and will park in the firezone and you could have your vehicle blocked in by emergency vehicles or if you are instructed to move and you do not then they can give you a ticket.

Fire officials have jurisdiction on the scene and if your vehicle is between them and a fire hydrant guess what. They can poke a hole through your windows and run the fire hoze through your car to the fire hydrant. That means that you should not park your vehicle in a fire zone. You will be solely responsible for the damage to your car. I have had many people parked in a fire zone tell me that there are not emergency vehicles present at that time and if they show up they will move. It is going to be difficult to move if you are in the store shopping.

South Carolina legislators at one point tried to pass a law making parking in a fire zone in front of a business a crime but it never passed. I spoke to one of the local patrol officers for the North Charleston police department about it. They told me there are circumstances where they could write a non moving traffic citation for the driver if certain things were met. For the most part police officers in North Charleston are so busy with other more pressing matters I would not want to bother them over parking lot problems.

In my follow up articles I will explore the mass of humanity that visits Walmart and the different types of people I have observed. Some of the stories will be funny in nature. Some of them will be very serious and you may find them disturbing on many levels.

Thanks for reading and responding to my stories. Tell me stories about the people of Walmart and what you have seen in the comments.