A Journal Entry from a Walmart Employee

We’ve officially been at project for 12 days and we northerners are burnt from head to toe. Perhaps we underestimated the power of the southern sun. Thankfully, long hours at Walmart have protected us from taking advantage of the beach freedom.

I have been a proud Walmart employee for an entire week now. I work in the toys department which basically means I press all of the “try me” buttons and ask the magic 8 ball questions for 8 hrs. Don’t tell my parents about the magic 8 ball though; they’re Baptist and wouldn’t be happy with me. 

Just kidding. I do actually work, too. This week was spent organizing shelves, building crates, crushing boxes, and chatting with my new pal Walter. Walter is a 60 year old man who has the sass and wit of a high society Southern Bell. I have absolutely loved working with him and hearing him comment on customers and managers. I haven't had much of a chance to talk about Jesus with him, yet. Hopefully tomorrow I can ask him more about his faith. I want to build a friendship with him first since we’re working together all summer. 

Aside from the toys, I have loved visiting my friends in their different departments after I finished organizing the toys section. I don’t think the other employees are quite used to our high energy and youthfulness, but hopefully we can bring out their inner teenager by the end of the summer. 

I think the biggest adjustment for me has been working 40 hours a week. I went from working part time and going to school to being at a superstore for 9 hours, 5 days a week. It’s easier to have a good attitude and have fun when I am working with people I enjoy or can have good conversations with, but some days are harder than others. One way I’ve decided to use my “downtime” (moving around merchandise or stalking shelves by myself), is praying and processing the talks we’ve had. God has been a companion to me when there’s no other co-workers around which has been so sweet. 

Tomorrow begins another week at Surfside Wally-world. Stay tuned for quotes from the toy departments main man, Walter. Thank you all for your continued love and support!

Joy in Jobs

Philippians 2:14-16

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain”

Walmart or Chick-fil-a may not be everyone’s first choice when it comes to a summer job. but we are thankful for these jobs while working at project. Since Campus Outreach has a great relationship with Walmart and Chick-fil-a, they give over 100 jobs to college students for eight weeks. It’s a win-win situation because they get the help they need for busy summer business and we are able to work for the time we are here.

There are 3 Walmart stores in the area; Garden City, Surfside and the Neighborhood Market. I work in the deli at the Surfside Beach Walmart with a sweet co-worker named John. He is retired and has been working at Walmart for about 16 years! Everyone who comes to the deli leaves with a smile on their face because he truly cares for each customer he helps. The other day he gave a piece of cheese to a little girl who was crying and she immediately stopped. I know this is not our ideal job but we fight to have a good attitude, especially since we aren’t going to be working there for the rest of our lives. Some of our coworkers have been working there for 5, 10, or 15+ years.

Because we are such a large group coming in at once it attracts a lot of questions like; where are you from or why are you working here for the summer? This gives us a great opportunity to share our faith and reason why we chose to come to project. I’ve already had great conversations with coworkers or customers about summer training project. Returning year after year some employees talk about the previous year’s workers and how much they enjoyed working with them.

My hope for myself and everyone on project is that we don’t feel discouraged or burdened but be happy to have a job. I pray that we can be a light glorifying God through our work with our interactions with coworkers and customers.