Christmastime in the land of plenty

I had to go to Sam's club the other day to pick up a few things. For those of you not in the US, let me acquaint you with Sam's: it's an affiliate of WalMart (which I'm sure you've heard of, even if you live in the furthest reaches of the Amazonian jungle), and the basic idea of it is bulk shopping. It's an enormous, warehouse-like space. Enormous is an understatment. You could probably park a half dozen 747's in there. It's completely no frills, so you're not going to get a white glove shopping experience! In fact it's quite the opposite: it's extremely loud because there's relentless muzak playing, echoing off the cement floors and cinderblock walls while people shout to be heard over the din. It always smells like food because they're constantly trying to feed their patrons with free samples that they cook in little toaster ovens at the end of every aisle. It also smells of rubber because they sell tires for every possible kind of vehicle. I like the smell of tires. Don't ask me why! Every time I go to Sam's I take a great big inhale. I know, it's weird but I like the smell!

Sam's sells everything from cigarettes to vitamins to jewelry to hot water tanks, all in huge quantities. You can't just buy a four-pack of toilet paper at Sam's -- you have to buy half a year's worth because that's the smallest quantity they sell! I think their motto is "if it's worth stocking, it's worth stocking it UP TO THE CEILING." Everything there is excessive. I can't imagine what someone coming from another country must think when they first walk into a Sam's. They're probably speechless!

I came across this display of extremely large televisions the last time I was there. This is only a small sampling of what they had on display. Pretty amazing when you think about it.