Price Matching at Wal-Mart

I don't do it. But I've heard of it. And it was my understanding that you had to bring in the ads from the other stores to prove yourself. Until today.

I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon because I needed a good mix of foods and non-foods. I managed to choose a checkout line with an avid price matcher in front of me. But it was okay. No hurry, no worry.

At first, I wasn't really paying attention. I mean, she wasn't one of those people with the three-inch coupon binder or anything like that. She had her husband with her and there was a baby's car seat, with a baby, I assume, hidden under the trendy cloth fabric. And then I realized she was pretty much just telling the employee the cost of each item.

"The strawberries are a dollar eighty-seven. The pizza is four ninety-nine."

And everything she said, he bought. Just typed it into the register no questions asked. Yep, he just dutifully punched in all of her numbers with his amazing fingers which happened to be painted five different colors: black, lime green, polka dots...hope you can visualize the stunningness of it all. Maybe that was the activity at his sixteenth birthday party earlier today.

Having become more interested, I noticed she had a piece of paper with a handwritten list of items and all of their prices at other stores around the region. It was going on and on, but really, I was patient...and curious. At one point her husband stepped back to me and the woman behind me to say, "Sorry about the wait, we are almost finished price matching!"

And his wife chimed in, "It saves SO much money!"

The woman behind me smiled and cheerily replied, "That's okay, I price match too."

So of course I asked myself, "Why don't I do this thing called price matching?" Never mind, you don't want to hear all of my excuses.

After the lady finished dictating exactly how much she was going to pay for each item, she turned the situation over to her husband for payment. Then...

Why...THEN I had an experience I've never had at any store anywhere! She started pawing through all of my purchases! In the sweetest way possible, she rifled through my foods and non-foods while rearranging the way I had placed everything to let me know how much money she was about to save me. I mean, I felt like an honorary member of her team. She pulled up my bag of meat with glee and asked, "Is this a rump roast???"

I had to burst her bubble and let her know that no, it was actually a chuck roast (what was I thinking??). Her face fell as she muttered the price of the other roast I could have purchased had I been wise enough to have chosen the exact correct roast. Again, what was I thinking?

The woman behind me could not help but get involved. When the memory of the woman in front of me faltered as to a price I was entitled on my grapes, the woman behind me magically recited it. They were tag-teaming just for me! And they were excited!

It was finally my turn for checking out. Mr. Nail Polish smiled and said, "How are you today?"

I said, "Doing well! Word on the street is that this celery is ninety-nine cents!"

So he typed that into his key pad.