Didn't I see you on Aisle 4, 20hrs ago ?

[Guest]

College student lives in Wal-Mart for 41 hours

He ate at in-store restaurant, napped in restroom or on lawn chairs

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- For spring break, some college students set out for sun-drenched beaches or cheap European cities. Skyler Bartels headed for the local Wal-Mart.

Bartels, 20, an aspiring writer and Drake University sophomore, thought he'd spend a week in a Wal-Mart as a test of endurance, using it as the premise for a magazine article. His college adviser liked the idea.

"I just intuitively thought, 'This is brilliant!"' said Carol Spaulding-Kruse, an associate professor of English. "I wasn't quite sure why, but it just sounded like a really good idea."

For 41 hours, Bartels wandered the aisles of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Windsor Heights that's open 24 hours a day. He checked out shoppers, read magazines, watched movies on the DVD display and played video games.

He bought meals at the in-store Subway sandwich shop, but was able to catch only brief naps in a restroom stall or on lawn chairs in the garden department.

Other shoppers and employees didn't pay much attention until the end of his stay, he said, when it appeared some store greeters began to take notice -- pointing at him and whispering.

A shift manager approached him and asked him if he was finding everything he needed.

"He said, 'Didn't I see you over by the magazines, like, five hours ago?' I told him, 'Maybe,"' Bartels said.

Tiring to the point of hallucinating, Bartels said he decided to go home before he was thrown out.

He considered the project a failure.

Then, The Des Moines Register, which had been contacted by Spaulding-Kruse, called to ask him about the experience. Once the story ran, TV networks began calling.

He also talked with a book agent, has been contacted by New Line Cinema about a movie concept and did a radio interview with National Public Radio.

Bartels told The Associated Press he has decided the stunt wasn't such a failure after all.

"I'm incredibly happy with the press coverage," he said. "It would be kind of silly not to accept it with open arms."

Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Thornton said Bartels neither violated store policy nor broke the law.

"We were unaware of his presence and if we were aware of it we certainly wouldn't have condoned it," Thornton said. "We're a retailer, not a hotel."

Edited March 30, 2006 by hoss

[Guest]

It's kind of sad that people want to make a movie about a kid who spent less than two days in a Wal-Mart. But hey, if it sells, why not?

I'd of gotten bored after two hours, gotta give him credit. Wal-Mart's aren't exactly the most fun place in the world.

[X615 0]

they're releasing the movie between 2 other projects. the first about a grandmother found to need a root canal after breaking a tooth & the other about a guy waiting in line 4 hours at motor vehicle renewing his license on his day off. they're undecided whether or not they're going to pick up the option about a family hiring a local neighborhhod kid to clean their gutters and a delivery guy trying to buy a pizza with an expired coupon. i'm sure the special effects will be mind blowing.

[Guest]

they're releasing the movie between 2 other projects. the first about a grandmother found to need a root canal after breaking a tooth & the other about a guy waiting in line 4 hours at motor vehicle renewing his license on his day off. they're undecided whether or not they're going to pick up the option about a family hiring a local neighborhhod kid to clean their gutters and a delivery guy trying to buy a pizza with an expired coupon. i'm sure the special effects will be mind blowing.

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That made me laugh so hard because frankly, with all the garbage movies coming out today, I would not bat an eyelash if, "Granny's Day: The Root Canal", or "The Delivery Boy's Bad Day", were coming to a theater near me.

[Guest KFD236]

I am very surprised that nobody called the cops or anything after seeing a guy asleep in a stall or in a lawn chair. About making a movie, I don't know. It seems pretty stupid but they did make Super-Size Me and that made a lot of money. (I think?) But it would not surprise me. And the book Oprah might even make it part of her book club. But whatever more power to you if you can stay in a Wal-Mart because I can't even spend an hour in Wal-Mart let alone 41.

Edited March 30, 2006 by kfd-exchief

[Guest]

But whatever more power to you if you can stay in a Wal-Mart because I can't even spend an hour in Wal-Mart let alone 41.

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LOL !!!! That's the truth !!!!!

[JM15 386]

Now Home Depot is a different story I could definately spend days in there playing with everything

[Ladder44 73]

Now Home Depot is a different story I could definately spend days in there playing with everything

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I would pick Lowes over Home Depot

[Remember585 815]

The concept of a movie about living in a store....sounds a little too "The Terminal" if you ask me...

[ny10570 745]

The concept of a movie about living in a store....sounds a little too "The Terminal" if you ask me...

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Come on people..you just have to spin it as a sequal to Career Opportunities. Instant blockbuster