This one is more of a whimsical, nostalgia-type thing ~ ~ ~
Anyone here work for Walmart back in the late 90s/early 2000s? I started in 2001 as a GM unloader. We'd come in at 4 p and were scheduled til 1 a, but in reality it was until we were dismissed, like school children (or indentured servants).
In off season we'd get in 2–3 trucks / per night; around the holidays it'd be double that. This was with a crew of 5–7 of us. Re mix wasn't around yet, so all consumables were on the GM trucks....and the amount of pallets for #9, #13 and #4 were staggering. I rememeber one night hauling out 15 pallets of paper goods alone.
Again, leaving time was 1 a, but between the short staffing, crazy amount of freight, and an o.n. manager who held us hostage to run her crew's stock (while they all took multiple c-gare–e and coffee breaks), it wasn't uncommon to stagger out of there at 4 am. .... I remember being constantly starving, bone weary and hurting worse than a retired NFL player.
I included '...it was the best of times' in the title because, compared to today's Walmart scheduling, we were filthy RICH in available hours. The trick wasn't getting enough time in—it was in getting the hell OUT of there! Because of that, I think the best part of my whole experience in that otherwise miserable 'job', was gaining for the first time in my life a sense of comaraderie, of teamship, with my fellow unloaders. I and everyone I was on that crew with are long gone from Walmart, but some of us still stay in contact, even after all those years ago. We still trade funny 'remember when??' memories. Bad as it seemed at the time, working as a Walmart unloader was kinda like those old Peace Corp. commercials: 'It's the toughest job you'll ever love!'
So: Any of you have any similar stories, or memories, or just thoughts to share on this?