One thing that you might not know about Walmart is that its employees are incredibly protective of their pallet jacks.
For context, a “pallet jack” is a device designed to help workers move pallets from one place to another. As Walmart is a chain that stocks many items, these jacks are essential to the everyday dealings of Walmart employees. This necessity breeds a close bond between Walmart workers and their jacks—for example, some users on Reddit claim that their stores have given names to the jacks they love, and hate, the most.
As the diversity in titles would suggest, not all pallet jacks are created equal. Walmart employees have been forced to use jacks that are long past their usefulness, leading to worker frustration and slowdown. So it’s understandable that, when an employee finds a jack they love, they become pretty protective of it.
TikTok user JaKerrion Campbell’s (@jakerrioncampbell) clip recently went viral after showing just how far this protection can go.
@jakerrioncampbell #foryou #walmart #walmartovernight ♬ original sound – JaKerrion Campbell
In a video with over 2.1 million views, Campbell shows himself dragging a pallet through the halls of a Walmart.
“When you have to bring your pallet jack in the restroom with you so nobody won’t steal it,” he writes in the text overlaying the video. In the caption, he adds, “IF YOU KNOW THEN YOU KNOW!!”
According to users on Reddit, Campbell is not unique in this behavior.
One user on r/Walmart subreddit noted that, in their Walmart, “Workers bring their pallet jacks to the break room since we barely have any available.”
“Come to my store, associates bring them out side on breaks to smoke, other have brought them in the bathroom with them,” reads a comment on the post. “There is a guy I work with on cap one, he will go find one before clocking in. Now it will be ridiculous on the day someone take it to lunch with them.”
Other users on the subreddit showed various ways that, either intentionally or unintentionally, employees have set up jacks to prevent them from being taken by other workers or vendors.
Commenters on Campbell’s TikTok alleged that they’ve had similar experiences with jacks at their stores, Walmart or otherwise.
“I worked at Lowe’s and someone put a broken sign on the good pallet jack so no one else would take it,” claimed a commenter.
“I would sandwich the palletjack between two tall pallets in the backroom at Walmart. leaving enough room to lower and raise the jack when needed,” another shared.
“I worked at a Walmart before and this is painfully true lmao,” offered a third. “You look away for 5 SECONDS and you see your coworker walking away with it.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Walmart via email and Campbell via TikTok comment.
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Source: https://www.dailydot.com/news/walmart-pallet-jack/