Observational Essay on a Recent Trip to Walmart

On Friday January 17, I went to Walmart to use the ATM machine as I am incline to do every Friday after my morning math class. I went there with three goals to accomplish and that is to get money off of my card as soon as possible shop for snacks, toiletries and to catch the 1:30pm bus home, however as it turns out as I approach the machine there was an out of order sign posted on the ATM machine and I came to the realization that I would not be able to catch the bus in time. It was then that I remember the observational essay from English class and as I looked around the store Walmart prove a valuable place to conduct my experiment. From an observational point it seems to me that everyone who came into Walmart on Friday had a specific goal in mind that they wanted to accomplish, when it relates to shopping that had never occur to me before. For one thing the customers when they come into the store they tend to branch out into specific areas.

Some go right for the shopping carts, while others head for the ATM machine only to discover the posted sign “out of service” those customers head straight to the door maybe to find another ATM machine while the other customers head straight for customer service to return purchases and to pay bills, but before they can return their purchases those customers have to join very long line with only two employees at the cash register with a line that is hardly moving. Further down following the other customer along the aisle you get a quite discovery of just who the customers really are by the choice of product they choose and how long they linger in a specific area whether it is making a decision on what product to buy or a spur of the moment purchase. The most populated area by far that I have o...

... middle of paper ...

...hat it taught me to become more aware and cognizant about life and my surroundings in general. Another exciting fact that I have learn how interesting people can become when you stop, take notice and even make random conjectures even when in fact sometimes those conjectures are partly true. A third fact was that observing customers interaction that day most of it was geared towards achieving some sort of goal or purpose in the manner in which they walk through the aisle or even browsing the shelves one could conjecture that this also relates to life and how success is often defined by coaches their advice reach out and achieve that was how I perceive that setting. This has also taught me that observation is not merely observing customers, it is also involves immersing yourself in a particular surrounding and acquiring something that can open up a once limited world.