Drake University sophomore Skyler Bartels went into Wal-Mart at the start of his spring break, planning to spend a week in the store and then write about it. (The project reminds me of Hugh Gallagher's classic early 1990s Rolling Stone article about spending a full week alone with MTV.) Bartels lasted just 41 hours though. Still, he's apparently in conversations with a book agent and New Line Cinema. From the Associated Press:
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…
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."
UPATE: KVH points out that in December 2005, Mark Dixon apparently did 49 hours at Wal-Mart. Link
