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Coming Sunday: Thousands join Facebook fan page to honor Delavan store greeter

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Do you know exactly how many friends you have?

Doris Wild, a store greeter at Delavan's Walmart knows how many she has — 3,288 the last time I checked.

That's how many people have joined a Facebook fan page set up in her honor.

Now, I'm sure Doris has more friends than that, because some haven't joined the Facebook page, but you get the idea.

Doris has quickly become a Facebook phenom, even though she doesn't quite know how it works.

As writer Lisa Schmelz explains in the story that will appear in the upcoming edition of Walworth County Sunday, Doris doesn't have a computer, but friends have printed out some of the pages to show her.

"It's amazing. I never realized I touched that many people," she told me when I visited her last week.

She is currently is recovering from a back injury she sustained while exercising.

Noticing she hadn't been around for a while, Cristian Valadez, 16, and his sister, Maritza, 14, of Elkhorn, set up a Facebook fan page, and it quickly drew thousands of admirers.

Called "Dorris, the sweet Wal-Mart greeter," (and yes, they apologize for accidentally misspelling Doris' name) the page has hundreds of comments from people who have crossed paths with Wild over the years.

Cristian Valadez said they know Wild from their frequent trips to the store. They figured there must be others who would appreciate a fan page in her honor, but Valadez said he had no idea that it would quickly grow to be in the thousands.

One of the things that draws people to Doris is that she can find a silver lining in any cloud. She came to her current job thanks to one of those twists of fate that we all hope for.

She was working at Delavan's Kmart about the time it was to close, and she said a prayer: "Please, give me a job I can do well and enjoy." Shortly thereafter, she got the job where she would touch the lives of so many others.

A post by Meredith Umnus sums up the sentiment of many: "The world certainly needs more people like Doris. She shares her passion for life with everyone she meets. You can't help but smile when you talk to her! Thank you Doris!"

Doris told me she works hard to be aware of the moods of the people walking in the door. Some want to stop and chat, others are determined and are on a mission.

I admitted to her that I fall into the latter category, and have probably crossed paths with her many times. I should have learned by now, being in this line of work, that the most unassuming people come with the most compelling stories.

Although her absence has been noted by many who have visited her page, Doris wants to reassure them that she plans to return to the job as soon as she can.

And if she had a computer to post a message on her fan page, what would Doris say to all those people who have written all those nice things? "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Watch for the profile of Doris Wild in Walworth County Sunday.