I hope you all are as excited about the weather turning cooler, as we are.

We will not have a pretty fall here at the Point because the leaves started to fall because they were water-deprived and died, and not due to the autumnal equinox that took place in late September.

But, despite the lack of colorful flora I am still glad to have lower temps.The skies always seem to be clearer, too. Maybe my vision or perception is clearer not the actual skies. But anyway, our collective moods have lifted around here.

As I write, this is the morning I go to town to shop for groceries. It is a chore I dread like changing bed sheets or raking leaves.

I go to a big, very big, store, Walt-mart, to purchase most of what we need. It is a test in a body’s wherewithal to spend a morning there.

Since they now offer self checkout lanes, I use them as often as I am comfortable doing so. But here’s the rub with me and perhaps you as well.

After I have shopped every department and tried valiantly to understand the correct prices for the purchases I am making, to ensure all fits within our budget, I can sometimes be forced to stand in one long line behind folks with hundreds of dollars of items in their carts.

This takes a long, very long, time. Frustration and anxiety can quickly overwhelm one.

So you proceed to the self checkout area. After loading your purchases in to your cart you must now take each one back out, scan it and or weight it, bag it and return it to the shopping cart

Then you exit the store and load all into the back of your vehicle. As soon as you get home with your bounty you must then unload and lug it all in and put every single item away.

I am exhausted just writing about it.

If I am going to do the work of department managers (putting items where they belong and in the right price category) and I am going to weigh and price produce, if I am then going to check myself out I feel strongly that I, and you too, should at the very least get a discount on my grocery bill.

Otherwise I should be counted as a volunteer and perhaps have access to the perks that come with that job.

Just think of the money they are saving by having you do their work and do it for free!

Scan the register lineup some time and realize how many thousands and or millions of dollars are spent on empty checkout areas. Think of how many employees are not doing the work because they have been unceremoniously laid off due to lack of work.

I would venture to guess that the price of one empty register alone could feed a family in these parts very nicely.

It’s not that I don’t like Wal-Mart, I just don’t understand them. I do not understand their business practices. I don’t like that they have bullied their way into small towns, pushing out Mom and Pop, and inserting themselves in my life so much.

Could I end my relationship with them? Of course I could. Would it matter to them? Of course it would not.

What I would like to see happen is for them to put their considerable money where their big mouths are and really entrench themselves in communities. Think about the consumer from our points of view.

I would in turn feel much better about spending my money with them.

Help an old girl out once in a while and have two registers open. If you want me to scan my own items then have correct price indicators on every single item and have the matching numbers in your database.

Keep your shelves stocked with common items that everyone uses. Also while you are at it put them in the same place in every store.

Whoosh! I’m tired now. I’ve said my piece. I am ashamed to say I cannot put my money where my big mouth is, and I will proceed on with my day making my first stop at Wally World.

I hope you have more strength than I. Stay tuned.

You can reach Sherry at 662.563.2525 or swhcsc@wildblue.net