The scene takes place in Walmart, located in the Cedarbrook Plaza Shopping Center. You have arrived in hopes of finishing some weekday errands. You walk through the front doors hoping for a friendly smile, only to be greeted with a look of annoyance, as if to say "Who the f*#k are you looking at?"

Congratulations, you are experiencing the best the Cedarbrook Walmart has to offer.

Less than average customer service is what you, like most people in the Cheltenham area, can expect from a place like this. For a company that says it will welcome you with a smile, customers have yet to see any trace of such an empty promise. With instances of neglect and verbal/physical dispute with employees, don’t assume that they’re here to help, because these people couldn’t be bothered and couldn’t care less.

The scene continues, you grab for a shopping cart which, within minutes, turns into a wrestling match with the rack since all carts seem to have been molded together. Exhausted from your brawl with the cart rack, you head over to the food section to get what you came for and just leave. Too bad that’s not happening since the shelves have yet to be restocked. From your last visit. Seven days ago.

There is rarely a time where you will see the shelves stocked with food with not one completely empty. The Cedarbrook Walmart has a tendency to leave their customers whatever is left (if there is anything) and supply them with enough food items. Frustrated, you do what you can with what they have and end up with a cart full of dented cans, boxes that have been opened, and food with expiration dates approaching soon. Don’t even think about eating healthy since this store does not offer any fresh produce and hardly any organic options.

With still so much left on your list, you venture off from the Wasteland and into No Man’s Land; an area with broken appliances and broken dreams. Cosmetics that have been broken into and worn by others (suggesting hints of Ebola or chlamydia on the lipsticks), appliances and toys with missing pieces, and undergarments with stains so black and grimy (You hold back your urge to vomit) you wonder how anyone, especially an employee, was able to pass this and not at least take it away from public eye. You stare, horrified and intrigued, at the panties, almost as a representation of what this place truly is: a solace once promising support, comfort, and quality now stained and defiled by the hands of poor management.

Here is the biggest two problems with this Walmart: (1) it is quite obvious that no one takes this job seriously and (2) the employees could care less and they make it obvious. Now, I could see if they put up a front and at least ACTED like they gave a shit about their line of work, I could give them some credit for working there. However, these employees, in my opinion, want to make it known that they are the reason this place is shit. They huddle in a group and talk amongst themselves, completely ignoring customers.

When asked questions or for assistance, these fine men and women couldn’t point you to the exit if they had two hands and a GPS. Their inventory, both food and otherwise, is below par and unreliable. The place is just a straight up mess, with dirt and dust as far as the eye can see. There can be so many things done to improve this place, but there isn’t enough motivation or incentive to make the employees do their job. This is entirely and justifiably the fault of poor management at this establishment. Until that problem is fixed, we are left to endure this hell.

You’ve been stuck in this nightmare for as long as you possibly could stand so you do the reasonable thing: you take your cart and rush to the checkout stations, in hopes of ending this torture. But the madness doesn’t end here. Many customers have had the same thought as you. And as every one of you, all 50 people, gather at the two open, out of 12, registers waiting to get checked out and going, you have been hit with a realization.

Amongst the crying children, leering looks of customer service, the dead eyes of shoppers, and the silent rage that begins to boil inside you, you begin to understand that this is not a nightmare but a ghastly reality that many in the Cheltenham area live through every week. This deplorable excuse of a Walmart is the only means of food and supply people in the area have. So, they keep silent and hope to get through this headache. You can't win, no one can, so you sit in your rage as the cashier attempts to the count the change like it was his first day on the fucking job and not like he's worked here since your freshman year.

The fun thing about this all? You get to come back again in a few weeks because you don't have a car and it's the nearest to the university. I guess that's what being a #collegestudent is all about.

Welcome to hell, buddy. Enjoy your stay!