BAYOU VISTA, La — On the far end of the Walmart Supercenter parking lot in St. Mary Parish lies a bright yellow four-foot tall concrete pole that’s been getting a lot of attention recently.
"They call him Patrick. Patrick the Pole!" said a Walmart employee said as he corralled the shopping carts in the store’s parking lot.
Passersby say they first noticed the new pole a few weeks ago in its concrete home at the entrance of the Walmart parking lot. The pole is now bent at a roughly 45-degree angle due to nearly a dozen fender-bender accidents over the last few weeks.
It was ostensibly erected to curb people from avoiding a stop sign that connects the parking lot with Highway 90. And while many drivers find the obstacle an annoyance, others see it differently.
"It’s the people not paying attention, said Tiffany Jones of Napoleonville. "They’re not paying attention or they on the cell phone," Jones said.
Walmart declined to comment on the pole but that hasn’t stopped people from creating memes about it and attaching ‘Get Well’ cards and balloons to it.
"It’s kind of sad in a way because so many people have hit it," said Mike Castillione of Patterson. "I’ve passed by several times and it seems like the pole has taken more abuse than cars," he said. "It’s kind of strange that a pole would bring everyone together around here like it does but sometimes the simplest things in life [that] makes everybody happy."
