Sunday, July 27, 2014

Diet Tonic as a controlled substance?

We were in Chehalis, WA for just 2 nights while going to a Full Timers rally in Oregon.  We had been in this campground before and knew we liked it so, since it was on the way, we stayed.  The point of the 2 days there was to regroup.  We needed to clean, do laundry catch up on bills and do some grocery shopping.  We went to Walmart, of course, to do the shopping.  We had been to this Walmart before and had no luck finding diet tonic, or any tonic.  We had the same result this time only a store employee asked me if I had "found everything I was looking for."  I said "no, where is the diet tonic and club soda?"  "Oh, yes sir,  that is up front by register 7 with the liquor.  The cashier will have to get it for you."  I said, OK, thanks...wait what?  The diet tonic is with the liquor and a cashier has to get it for me?" "Yes that is how it works here", he said.

Understand that I had just search the entire section of wine and beer in the back of the store.  They had a nice selection of both with a special section of local and regional beer.  This was available for anyone to put in their cart.  But diet tonic was behind a barrier where only authorized personnel could retrieve it!?  Also keep in mind that Washington state recently legalized recreational marijuana and began selling it on July 1.  But diet tonic is a controlled substance.

So with the rest of our shopping complete, including some local beer, we headed to register 7.  There we asked the cashier for diet tonic.  She called another person who oversees that area to come and get it for us.  Behind the security system that consisted of 2 posts and a strap similar to what is used by the airlines to herd you in the right direction was all the hard liquor and the mixers that might go with it.  And there on a shelf was the coveted diet tonic.  We got 3 bottles, had to show ID at the register for the beer and left wondering why this was the only Walmart in Washington that treats diet tonic like a controlled substance?

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