If you needed another reason not to go to Wal-Mart, here's a good one: It's possible you could be stung by a scorpion while shopping there.

Over the weekend, a 12-year-old girl picking out watermelons at a West Virginia Wal-Mart was, yes, stung by an inch-long creepy critter that, apparently, got into the shipment of fruit in Mexico.

When Megan Templeton first told her dad she was the victim of a scorpion sting, he said, "No way. You've seen those Indiana Jones movies too many times."

OK, he didn't say that. But he didn't believe her (and, really, you know that's what he was thinking.) Then he saw the scorpion scurry (ewww) underneath a box, at which time Wal-Mart workers were summoned to capture it. Fortunately, they knew exactly how to subdue the creature, since scorpion capture is covered extensively during Wal-Mart's employee orientation.

Megan went to a hospital as a precaution but is fine. A Wal-Mart official attempted to downplay the incident: "It wasn't really  a scorpion. The little girl was just confused. It was actually that annoying happy face who bounds around our store knocking down prices with wild abandon."

OK, the Wal-Mart official didn't say that. But you know he considered it. What Richard Coyle, senior director of international affairs for Wal-Mart, actually said is that this is a very rare incident and seems to have affected just this one shipment of watermelons.

Which is probably true. But I'm not taking any chances. If I want Scorpions, I'll stay at home and listen to "Rock You Like a Hurricane." 

Photo: eFluxMedia