I am a big fan of both Sam's Club and Wal-Mart; these are facts. I have lived in my happy little bubble for quite some time. I've watched some shows preaching the evil of Wal-Mart and thoroughly enjoyed Penn and Teller ripping apart the Wal-Mart haters on Bullshit! Recently, primarily after moving to South Carolina, my fuzzy feelings toward Wal-Mart have begun to be less fuzzy.
It started shortly after moving here, when I realized that the nearest Wal-Mart was always busy and rarely stocked. Because Mark and I don't use much sugar (he mainly uses it in his tea), we like to buy the little canister of sugar. I have seen the space at the Seaboard Wal-Mart where it is supposed to be, but I've never seen it actually there. I found it one time at the Carolina Forest Wal-Mart and have been refilling that one since I bought it. That's pretty sad. Maybe I should get a glass canister for sugar....
Anyway, sugar aside, the Seaboard Wal-Mart is constantly busy. One night, we waited in line for fifteen minutes. There were two lanes available, and the lines were ridiculous. At the fifteen minute mark, we still were multiple people back from the registers. Mark called the store and asked for a manager. He told the manager about the situation, and the manager called up all available associates to the front to ring register. We know he did this, as it came over the loudspeaker. Suddenly, there were five lanes open, and we were able to check out. With Mark working in retail and myself working with the public, we both know there are times that lines are out of your control. Based on the manager's reaction, it wasn't out of his control. At the same time, that is the only time I've seen lines that bad. I could give them a pass for that, and I have. I often visit the other Wal-Marts, but I have been getting groceries at the Seaboard location for the most part.
Unfortunately, I think that's about to change. While Wal-Mart gives me the most bang for my buck, it turns out that they don't carry everything I need. Now, this may seem obvious to you fancy chef type cooking people, but this is something I am just figuring out. I've mentioned this before, but I am making a recipe each week that Mark chooses.
This week, I am supposed to make Thai Curry Coconut Pork Chops. Before heading off to Wal-Mart, I made a list of items that I needed to purchase. I used to make lists all the time and had gotten away from it. To make sure I don't forget the items from Mark's weird recipe choices, I need lists again.
First up, I need center cut bone-in pork chops. That doesn't sound so hard. I know where the meat case is, but lo and behold, there are no center cut bone-in pork chops. They have a lot of other pork chops, but they don't have the cut I need. This could be a case of just being out of stock, but I can't even find a sticker for them. I did, however, find them at Bilo, and that makes me sad.
That's okay, I'm sure Wal-Mart will have the Cattleman's Golden Honey Barbecue Sauce that this recipe demands. Wrong again. They have a lot of different barbecue sauces, but they don't have ANY Cattleman's, let alone the flavor I actually need. I realize I could sub a different yellow barbecue sauce, but I'm trying to follow the recipe the first time I make it. I was in luck though, as Bilo had that too.
I don't know if Bilo has cream of coconut, as I haven't looked yet. I do know, however, that Wal-Mart does not have it. It's possible they do, and I just had no clue where it was located. I looked in all the places that made sense, but I was growing frustrated due to the other items that were unavailable. I should have found an employee and asked, but I get the distinct feeling that they would have looked at me as if I had grown two heads. That is not a very kind opinion for me to have, and I am sorry. I will work on being a better person as soon as I pick up the other ingredients I need.
Next on the list is curry powder. Now, I know not everyone uses it everyday, but I would expect Wal-Mart to have curry powder. It appears that there is a spot for not one, but two kinds of curry powder. Excellent, my day is looking up. On second thought, all the curry powder is gone! It is completely out of stock.
At this point, I know I have to visit another grocery store to make the recipe that Mark has chosen, but I'm going to swing by the fruit and veggies up front to see if I can find ginger root. I've already looked back by the spices, and they didn't have the root back there. See, I need to peel the root and then grate it for these stupid pork chops. Big surprise, there is no ginger root at Wal-Mart either.
Regardless of my frustration, I still love Wal-Mart. I will continue to shop there, as it gives me the best prices on some of the basic items I buy. I've just learned that for my new cooking experiments, I will be visiting a grocery store with a bit more snobbery, perhaps the Piggly Wiggly out in Market Common. I really miss Wegmans.
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