What is it with Wal-Mart? (Dec. 13, 2005)

Really, what kind of hold do these super centers have over people? Or at least, what hold do they have over me? I went in there today needing only some blank DVDs and a few trinkets for my son’s stocking. So how is it that I walked out with $300 worth of stuff? Now, granted, that was a cart full of things, but my DVDs were only $60 and the stocking stuffers were maybe $20, so that’s over two hundred dollars worth of impulse shopping. How does that happen? Even if it was a lot of stuff—and a lot of gifts, I might add—that still seems a bit crazy, even to me. I’m pretty sure that there’s some kind of subliminal, hypnotic type message that plays from their PA system continually, and that they really crank up the dosage during the holidays. That’s really the only thing that explains it, don’t you think?