So. I am in a hotel in Indiana where I am working for a few days. (Yesterday John Green and I read at Kids Ink bookstore and then ate cupcakes.  The Nerdfighters who came out to see us were awesome. Yes, they were, as far as I could tell, ALL Nerdfighters. Dressed in T-shirts with like, pictures of John's dog, pictures of John with  mustache, stuff like that, and carrying books that John had signed already and having him sign them again...)

I have the day off today and I am writing writing writing but a person needs to take a break sometimes and the outside of my hotel has this landscape:

See that tan building way over there on the left? 

It's Walmart. 
And see how there's nothing else? 
There's nothing else.

So I was bored and kinda lonely and I put up on Twitter and Facebook that I was going to Walmart for the first time and I got all kinds of advice and responses!  Because, you know, I live in NYC, which is as far as I can tell a Walmart-free zone. And I am not possessed of a large pantry, a swimming pool, a lawn, or any of the other things that would compel me to seek out the products of large super stores, really.  

I mean, I've been to Target now and then.  I'm not a complete hermit.  But anyway.

There was enough interest in my virgin Walmart experience that I thought it worth a blog post. 

I walked there. In the rain. There were no sidewalks and a lady slowed her car to find out what I was doing on foot, it is apparently such a weirdo thing to walk.

A few observations:

Many, many children were sobbing. I think the materialism overwhelmed them. Or maybe riding in the carts. 

There was no music. It was eerily silent sometimes. 

The obesity problem in America is serious. I was the smallest size for much of the clothing (esp bras!) and I am a medium healthy weight, neither thin nor fat. 

We really do need Jamie Oliver's food revolution.  Aisles and aisles of just soda. And processed food.  It kind of gave me the chills, all that shelf-ready food, sitting there for months. 

But Walmart is also fun!  There are books!  It was a pretty interesting selection actually -- lots of thrillers and romances, but also a teen/middle grade section that contained (and I am telling you EVERYTHING THAT WAS THERE, EVERY SINGLE BOOK):
Twilight
that other vampire series that I forget the name of that sells really well
one other vampire series I wasn't familiar with
 Wimpy Kid
 Big Nate
 Percy Jackson
Avatar

That's it!   But for adults it was a very wide range, including these:

I bought a Lee Child thriller (The Enemy) to read tonight when I'm done with my work.  My other purchases were:  2 pairs kids' shoes ($10 each, couldn't resist, seriously cute), some ladies' undergarments and two boxes of cookies (double choc Milanos and Pim's orange) to sustain me in the hotel (which has no room service).  

Then I went to Subway (Call me ignorant but I didn't know there would be restaurants INSIDE the Walmart!) and ate a veggie sub and read Jack Reacher. 
Not a bad way to spend my break.   I do feel a little dirty, though.