Counter Guy at Wal-Mart thinks he is the video police!!!
By jewels49
@jewels49 (1776)
United States
November 20, 2009 6:06pm CST
I actually thought I was going to have a stroke in the video game department of Wal-mart. My son wants this world of war game for his playstation for Christmas so I thought I would just pop into wal mart buy the thing and be done. Of course it's locked up in a case so I have to go ask this little man to get it for me when I tell him what the games is he proceeds to tell me what a bad parent I am .not knowing how much violence was in this game, because he was sure I wouldn't expose my kids to that on purpose. Did I understand what these kinds of games were doing to the mind of children. Ya know how sometimes you can feel the hair on the back of your neck rise? Still I tried to be diplomatic and I told him I knew what some people felt, but I just didn't believe that a video game, movie, or song, was going to have more influence over my child than his father and I will.
He wouldn't stop, he kept trying to give me examples all the way to the game case. I thought about telling him that my kid was an honor student and all conference line man and that if given a choice between games and outside he always chose outside, and then I just really got irritated and when he handed me the game I very politly handed it back and told him I was reconsidering making the purchase. I let him get his judgemental self all puffed up and then I very nicely told him I was reconsidering my purchase of that game and the other 7 games on my list (that part was a lie..it's only 3) from wal-mart.
While he was picking his jaw up off the floor I told him I was not spending a dime of money in a store that employeed a self-imposed video game cop to judge me and assume things about me when I was there buying a game that was supporting him and his family by HIM selling it to me.
From there I went to Meijer and bought the game from a very nice grandfather that was looking forward to playing the game with his grandson after Christmas.
Now that I have vented it all out I feel a little bad about the guy at wal-mart, I'm sure he was doing what he believed in..But am I wrong to think he picked the wrong time and place?
4 people like this
5 responses
@kykidd (6812)
• United States
21 Nov 09
It's not his job to tell you that you are a bad parent and that a video game is going to influence your son. It is your decision to decide how it will effect your son, and if you believe he is a lot bigger person than to be influenced by a video game then you are right. You know your son probably better than anyone else in the whole world, I am sure.
Don't feel guilty. The man at Wal-Mart made his bed and now he has to lie in it. Hopefully, next time he will think before he speaks. You could have went a lot further by writing to the company or calling on a manager. Then he would have actually gotten reprimanded, which he deserves in my opinion. You did the right thing!
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
21 Nov 09
Whoa!!! If Wal-mart new he was doing that, he'd be out the door. I think you handled that quite well and put him in his place. I don't think he should be selling video games or anything else for that matter. He's too opinionated for sales and I bet he's got more to say about other stuff too. Good way to lose a job, that's for sure.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
10 Sep 10
This is the way I feel about things like that, I might have the opinion but I am going to keep it to myself. He didn't know how old your kid was so by assuming he was in the wrong, I am sure he was just trying to do what's right and I can't every well say that I hadn't or might not have done the same thing in his position, but I think I'd be able to tell when the customer wasn't get mad and when I was overstepping my boundaries.
I am sure no where in the contract does it say he has the right to be soo.. opinionated. Inf act, I am sure it's not in there!
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
10 Sep 10
Hi, jewels49. He was out of line. How could he, sell a video game and then stop you from buying it? It does not make sense at all. He is crazy and odd! I would have ignored him and still bought the game. It is your money and you and your husband knew what is and is not going to affect your son. His opinion would not be needed.
@aurorastorm (1131)
• United States
10 Sep 10
I am so glad you did what you did because even though anyone has the right to their opinion, when you are a worker, you need to know what is appropriate work place behavior. I happen to work in a place where some people that call on the phone have no common sense whatsoever but I still just need to do my job and keep my opinions to myself. I am not sure how old your son is but mine is 10 and has that game on one of his systems. I know like yours it will never make him be violent because of it. He would prefer outside to anything else, plus also very good student. A game does not cause kids to behave badly, I will never buy that line of reasoning.
The only other thing I would have done is talked to the manager of the store, to save another parent the kind of treatment you had just received.
