camping at Wal-Mart

I drove up to Wal-mart this evening to get a bag of cat litter, and it was out there again. It being the mystery RV that parks in the very back of the Wal-Mart parking lot, and has off and on for several months now. Some nights there's a light on inside, some nights not, but it's almost always sitting there, alone, way off in the distance.

I don't know what to think, but it obviously registers. My mind drifts to camping trips at various state parks, where there's usually an elderly couple, the camp stewards or whatever they're called, who stay for an entire summer and act as the campground caretakers. They ride around in a golf cart and make sure everyone is at the right site, ask how everyone is doing, answer basic questions, and other assorted pleasantries. But at Wal-Mart? What if there was a scuffle in the parking lot? Could I go to them for help? Could I knock on the RV door if I was looking for tea and sympathy? Or directions to Target? Is that what it's there for? It is reassuring to think there might be a friendly old couple inside.

Or maybe I have it all wrong. Maybe its presence is much more sinister. Perhaps a chronic shoplifter owns it and stays close to Wal-Mart to support his habit, all the cabinets and storage spaces crammed with stolen goods. Or worse, maybe an old pedophile camps out there. He probably hangs out on the candy aisle during the day, trying to lure kids back to the van. "Wanna see my Mystery Machine?" "Would you like a Scooby Snack?" I don't know, but it's all very strange.

And it's not just the RV. Sometimes semi trucks park back there, too, their drivers all snug in the beds behind their cabs. This definitely raises an eyebrow. I've never been in any truck stop USA that didn't have a condom dispenser in the men's restroom. Do truckers en masse suffer from delusions of grandeur, or is there really that much action going on at these places? I've certainly never seen it.

But then again, I don't really notice much, do I?