A Walmart BBW Tale

"You're not at all what I expected," Steele said to Alexandra, and the tall, plump, blonde-haired young Caucasian woman smiled, causing her sky-blue eyes to sparkle. Not for the first time, Steele noticed that Alexandra had a nice smile, and it seemed genuine. Walmart was one hell of a place, full of backstabbing and treachery underneath the veneer of friendliness and customer service.

For the past year or so, Steele had been working at Walmart as part of the security team. The place was certainly complex, to say the least. Mean managers, passive-aggressive employees, tons of backstabbing and treachery. Oh, and a ton of rude clients, especially at this Walmart, which was located in a moneyed area of the Canadian Capital. Steele tried his best not to let the bozos get to him, but he was only human...

"Those rude customers had no right to speak to you this way, just because you're security doesn't mean you should put up with their bullshit, trust me, I'm a CSM, I know," Alexandra retorted, somewhat haughtily, and Steele smiled and nodded. He was about to reply when he saw Moll, the tall, burly assistant manager coming their way, and he wished Alexandra a good day, and returned to his post at the door.

"Thanks again, and enjoy your break," Steele said, and Alexandra smiled and walked away, looking oh-so damn lovely in that dark, flowery summer dress that she had on. Steele resumed his post, and a white family exiting the store looked him up and down. He knew what they saw. A big and tall young black man in a security uniform, definitely something out of the ordinary as far as white folks in the Canadian Capital were concerned.

"May I see your receipt, please?" Steele said, and the family patriarch, a balding middle-aged white guy, paused and stared at him, seemingly angry. Steele locked eyes with the dude, and after a brief moment, he parked his cart and pulled the receipt out of his pocket. Steele read the receipt...slowly, and then handed it back to the old white dude, who left with his wife and daughter in tow.

"I saw what you did there," Alexandra said, smiling, as she walked back into the store, and Steele blinked, a bit surprised to see her back so soon. Alexandra grinned, flashing that fearless smile of hers, and Steele returned her smile. Usually, when facing the unexpected, the young Black man kept his face carefully blank. If you let them get to you, you're done...

"Ma'am, I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about," Steele said casually, and Alexandra rolled her eyes. She could sense that Steele was not like the others. Walmart attracted a ton of short-term employees who couldn't handle its tricky, weird way of doing things. Cashiers, backroom workers, customer service personnel, they all just came and went. Steele on the other hand had stuck around for over a year...

"Steele, don't play coy with me, that middle-aged dude looked at you funny and that's why you stopped him," Alexandra said with a wry grin, and Steele smiled and shrugged. Damn, this Alexandra gal was definitely not like the others. In Steele's experience, most people working in retail were dull, boring, insecure and mean, but not particularly smart or remarkable. He'd seen enough of them betray each other for petty reasons to learn never to trust them.

"Alright, that guy has given me a hard time recently, told me I didn't have a real job and that I ought to go back to Africa, I remembered his bullshit, and I wanted to stop him, just because," Steele said, his ire rising, and Alexandra smiled, not with sympathy but with empathy. Gently she touched his arm, a gesture which surprised the hell out of Steele. What game was Alexandra playing?

"I just wanted to let you know, I know how you feel," Alexandra said, and then she walked away, and practically sashayed that big butt of hers in that flowery dark summer dress. If Steele had a weakness, it was a cute, curvy gal with a big butt but he tended to avoid the white ones because they were quite often too much trouble. Way too much trouble for a brother just trying to earn a few bucks to complete his final year at Canada's Capital University.

Canada's Capital region is full of immigrants, especially from places like Africa, Asia, the Arab world and Latin America. Officially, multiculturalism was the order of the day. Unofficially, a lot of white Canadians resented the fact that their world was changing and distrusted newcomers, especially the ones hailing from outside European nations, and there was a lot of xenophobia. Of course, one had to really be careful in order to see it, and recognize it for what it is.

Canadian xenophobia is often hidden behind a fake smile, a veneer of politeness and a ton of passive aggression and social micro-aggressions. It's not as blatant as, say American xenophobia, as embodied by Donald Trump. In Canada, white guys who date Asian women and Black women quite often hate minorities and vote Conservative, in order to keep out said minorities. And the same white gal one sees date minority men can turn around and say racist things about minorities while in all-white company. Surprised? Don't be. Welcome to Canada. At least, that was Steele's experience.

"You're full of surprises, good to meet you," Steele said to Alexandra, a few hours later, as she exited the store for good. The young woman paused, a coy smile on her face, and then she pulled out her cell phone for some reason. Steele's heart skipped a beat, for he knew what this meant. Ida, the tall, Russian-looking customer service manager stood in the distance, glaring at him and Alexandra as they spoke. Steele's eyes were focused on the pretty, mysterious young woman standing in front of him, and NOT the customers...

"Let's keep in touch, I think you might need a witness if those bozos decide to file a complaint," Alexandra said, and a smiling Steele dictated his number to her, and the young woman punched them into her cell phone. With a wink and smile, Alexandra wished Steele a good day and walked away. A wry grin spread across Steele's dark, handsome face as Alexandra walked away. What a woman, he thought.

"Stop grinning like a psycho and focus on the job, you have to stop people exiting the store with big items and ask to see their receipts," Ida said, her dark eyes narrowed like dark marbles, her lip curled in distaste. Steele looked at the manager, and shrugged, then nodded. Part of him wanted to tell the tall Russian bitch to shove it, but Steele held his tongue.

"I know how to do the job," Steele said, and then, without waiting for Ida's reply, he stopped a skinny, red-haired young white dude who was exiting the store with a microwave. The guy looked annoyed when Steele asked him for a receipt, and then pulled it out of his pocket. Steele looked at the receipt, well aware of Ida standing nearby, hovering like a bird of prey, only deadlier since she was one of the store's customer service managers.

"Have a good day," Steele said to the young white dude as he gave him his receipt. The young white dude walked away, shaking his head. Seemingly satisfied, Ida walked away as well. The next customer, an old black lady with a cane, produced her receipt for the oranges she bought, but Steele waved her through without checking it. Small items, he told himself, and smiled. The old black lady smiled at him and exited the store without incident. Steele's cell phone buzzed and he looked around, saw no managers nearby, and pulled it out.

"Save the number, handsome, and try to loosen up a little," read the text message from Alexandra, and Steele smiled and saved the number, then sent her a smiley face. Working eight hour shifts on his feet at the Walmart entrance was definitely not easy, but Steele felt better all of a sudden. It was five o'clock and he had six hours to go. Another family came to the door with a cart full of stuff. A chubby brat with his father, who looked Jamaican, and his mother, who was white. Interesting, Steele thought.

"Have a nice day," Steele said, smiling at the Jamaican man who walked out of Walmart with his blonde-haired white wife and their mixed-race son. The tall, well-dressed and dreadlocked brother nodded at the security guard, and Steele returned the nod. Another group of people came to the door, a trio of young white guys, who looked in the direction of the departing interracial family with disgust on their faces.

"Gentlemen, may I see your receipts, please?" Steele asked, much to their consternation. Slowly, painfully, Steele checked all of their receipts and sent them on their way. They weren't happy about being checked. Typically, security people overlook white customers and practice racial profiling by mainly checking minority customers. A firm believer in justice and fairness, Steele checked customers of all shades, including the almighty white males. Smiling, he got through his work day and told himself he'd call the lovely Alexandra tomorrow. That dame had a butt Steele wanted to bite...