Is it sunny? Is it cloudy? No idea, it seems to be both, all at once, and not in that “partially sunny” kind of way. But it’s warm, it seems to have gotten the memo it’s June.
Finally.
Before we get into the getting in, thanks for the coffee, Deb!! You are the rock stars of all rock stars and I appreciate you so very much. It’s a comfort to know you’re out there, reading.
I went to the eye doctor yesterday, and my eye is OK, it’s just going to look not great for a little while. And apparently my allergies ARE as bad as I feel they are, so she told me to get some drops for that. They’re over the counter, the active ingredient is olopatadine and I got the store brand. That and artificial tears.
She also recommended a cold compress, so fellow allergy sufferers, here you go. We apparently have pollution from Canadian wildfires right now, and that may be making mine worse, who knows.
But luckily, it was not as horrifying or scary as it appeared, even if it was an unwelcome Monday Morning Surprise.
No one wants those.
I was thinking about why Target has my full wrath, versus other places that have rolled over and played bigot, and I finally landed on an answer beyond “they just feel icky now.”
The thing about Target is it managed, despite its size and chain store designation, to foster a sense of community. The community was enormous, of course, but it was a community of people who loved Target for what it had to offer on its floors, but also what it had to offer as a huge corporation.
If corporations are citizens, Target seemed determined to be a good citizen.
And that led to us feeling good about shopping there. Because our consumerism, on some level or another, seemed to be spurring on the greater good, whether through broader philanthropy or giving a leg up to small businesses, particularly those owned by people who have less access to opportunities like selling in a huge chain.
But.
It turns out.
It was all a lie. There was no altruism, only bottom lines, and now we see they miscalculated who was feeding them. And it’s not the people who choose Walmart and Hobby Lobby out of principle.
And here’s the thing, Target. Those people already have Walmart and Hobby Lobby.
What do we have?
Well, we’re figuring that out.
You know who didn’t roll back their DEI? Michaels. And their selection is always outstanding, especially online. Plus deals, all the time. And if you need organization, they have it, not only for crafts.
I think Target thought we were hooked, flippy floppy fish whose habits would never change. They thought we wouldn’t carry a grudge, that we would be back, it would all blow over.
What they failed to understand is they set fire to the reason we went there in the first place. It, for many things, cost more than Walmart (although Walmart isn’t actually cheaper for a lot of things. I don’t shop there, because I don’t have to, but I’ve compared prices).
But that was a premium we paid for a corporate vision that valued everyone, that made everyone welcome, that made it a place for everyone to feel comfortable.
We trusted Target.
What’s to trust when the very core of who you thought someone was is revealed as a sham?
If corporations are people, Target is the boyfriend who, in a blink of an eye, laughs at you, tells you he never liked you, let alone loved you, and he’s been cheating on you with your weird cousin who thinks kidnappers prowl the aisles of Walmart looking for white babies.
Anyway, that’s why Target can cry over its declining sales and silent foot traffic all it wants. We can watch it crumble back into the earth, as people have for millennia, as giants rise and fall.
And with that, I wish you a wonderful Tuesday, unless you are Target.
A Bit to Read 
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