Website laughs at Wal-Mart weirdos

Sam Walton opened the very first Wal-Mart department store in 1962. This store would be the first of many in a chain of franchise stores across the country that would eventually become famous for discount prices, plentiful locations and the most bizarre shoppers on the face of the planet. If you have ever told or have been told a Wal-Mart story, immediately direct yourself to peopleofwalmart.com and proceed to laugh hysterically at the Wal-Mart shopper in its natural habitat.

Set up just last month, peopleofwalmart.com is essentially an online photo album of the most bizarre Wal-Mart shoppers across the United States. The site ranges from fashion disasters and awkward habits, to the most "unique" vehicles ever driven out in public. Kids on leashes, vulgar shirts, Batmobiles and even a wedding at a cash register are probably the closest things to normal in the entire album.

All pictures are taken from several different Wal-Marts throughout the country to prove this is a national occurrence not limited to just one place, and they include captions at the bottom to poke fun at the pictures. The site even allows its users to submit photos of their own odd Wal-Mart experiences.

Within the last month, peopleofwalmart.com has become something of an Internet phenomenon. The website has been gaining a significant amount of popularity, receiving numerous hits on Digg.com and becoming the subject of several recent YouTube videos. The site has even been covered in full news and entertainment articles on online sources such as Yahoo, New York Daily News, Time and even CNN. Whether it is the odd cars, ridiculous clothing or strange antics of the picture subjects, peopleofwalmart.com has been the recipient of much praise for showing off a side of middle class America that most want to forget.

As stated on the "About Us" page of peopleofwalmart.com, three friends founded the site last August after an inspirational trip to Wal-Mart. They go on to say that the purpose of the site is to create social satire on Middle America, and they only mean to bring up the subject in the spirit of fun. They refuse to tolerate any photos taken of situations deliberately trying to draw public attention and people with mental disabilities dictating their behavior. Although some of the pictures can get rather vulgar or disgusting, they rarely ever come off as mean-spirited.

Ultimately, peopleofwalmart.com is quickly becoming one of the biggest Internet hits of 2009 within its first month or so of activity. I'll admit that not every picture is hilarious, but most of them are very memorable. The founders should be given credit for making something so big from such a simple premise.