We have three large Wal Mart stores in town. If they were a personal safety problem, I would be aware of that, and I am not. I am aware of some shoplifting and a few domestic quarrels. Actually, very few of those if the size of the stores and their parking lots is taken into account.
I have never overnighted at a Wal Mart, but not for reason of personal safety. It just hasn?t been needed, in my travels, so far. I would not hesitate, if a Wal Mart was convenient and I needed a nap. I would use ordinary precautions, the same as anywhere else.
The type of crime that occurs in any given place should be an issue. In our most extraordinary case, we overnighted at a Flying J, north of Salt Lake City, three years ago. We were tired, when we got there, and it was late. (6:00 PM give or take.) Filled up, ask permission to park, and was directed to the truck parking area which was huge. Decided to eat out, and get to bed.
On the way from the truck stop caf?, back to the RV, my wife called my attention to a pickup truck, in the parking lot. We observed a ?commercial transaction,? there. Given where we do our volunteer work, it was terribly obvious. Neither of them made any attempt to conceal what they were doing.
Decided to watch, for a few minutes and make up our minds about our safety. That business was fairly steady for the next half hour, as twilight began to descend. We saw both armed and unarmed security. A Police patrol unit cruised through, slowly, but didn?t stop. (Business paused as the cop drove through.) We elected to stay and watch, a little longer.
Less than half an hour later, a small car with four women inside pulled into the lot, right in front of our vehicle, and parked. A truck driver walked over and started a conversation. Made a friend, immediately. She returned in about half an hour, to an empty car, and wasn?t there, long. They made a lot of friends, that evening, and were still there, making friends, when we went to bed. Just before we went to bed, the Police made another drive thru.
I elected that we were safe, and we went to bed, in the midst of a crime wave. Woke up in the morning and drove on, quite refreshed.
Don?t get me wrong. There was a very serious, immediate threat, to your safety and mine, in that parking lot, that night. There were twenty or thirty truckers who drove out, in the wee hours of the morning, still under the residual influence of their personal favorite narcotic. They went directly to the Interstate, and some of them headed your way. Later in the morning, each of them passed you, or a friend of yours, and all you knew was that a big rig had overtaken you.
Down the road, we are slowed to a crawl as we pass a wreck. A semi is overturned and a passenger car has been squashed. There are State Police units, and Paramedics, a lot of them! Wonder what happened? Minutes later, traffic clears up, again, and we continue on our way.
We get ?lucky? every day, and often we don?t know it when it happens!
Ray D