Target Infatuation

Shopping at Target is different. It's the lighting or the quality of floor, or the cart, everything is a little more plush. The plastic is denser, the linoleum thicker on the concrete, Carpeted sections are more clearly defined. The holiday décor is themed, and consistent—providing a feeling of walking through a story, rather than store.

I was forced, forced I say, to shop at Target. My list was all in-edibles. I had to drop off library books. There were shopping bags to be recycled, and the last time I used my Trader Joes bags at Safeway, the check-out chick gave me more passive aggressive criticism than I had previously thought the breed of people capable of.

With these seemingly unconnected reasons, you, darling reader, can see clearly why I had to experiment with my grocery shopping settings.

And it bloomed with so much contentment. Open, cleverly, with winter clothes on sale. The sale racks organized by size—a whole rack of extra smalls at $4. Yep. One thermal and two tanks in the cart. It's smart on their part and smart on mine. Right?

Duped?

no.

Surely not, the layout of the store did not weasel me into obeying the demands of the economy...

The layout of the food section, once I got there, was incredible. No confusing sections or deviations from logical order of foods, no weird inedible soaps or towels shoved in among tortillas or coffee. It's awesome. All snack food is even right at the back, sequestered safely away from where I needed to go.

People are friendlier at Target. First conversation was around the sale tank tops. Second by greeting cards. Third at check out. All women, all smiling, all dressed well but not flashy—Have I come to the home of tasteful middle class house wives? Why do these ladies value, like me, company brand tissues with pretty patterned boxes? All the colors are subdued, and calm, as though they had been knitted for Etsy. The detergent aisle included three brands of eco-friendly and minimalist designed companies of soap. Soap.

Still duped? No, it's really a wonderland.