Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Target-ed

Target often serves as my refuge when I need a break from work or want to wander aimlessly. Unless you are there on a Saturday or Sunday, it's a mostly peaceful place to visit and you have time to check out all the deals you miss when you run in and out for detergent.

So you can imagine my horror when two times in the recent past my Target visit has been disrupted by crazies. The first episode took place when I was leaving the store after a lovely outing where I discovered the Boots line (try the grape/avocado body butter). I was heading to my car in the crosswalk when a car came straight at me and stopped about 3 feet away. I looked up and saw a man and a woman in an SUV staring at me. I looked back at them with confusion as to why they had come so close when the man leaned out his window and shouted, "what are you, stupid?" much to my surprise. Why was this man shouting at me for apparently acting stupid when he had nearly hit me in the crosswalk of a heavily trafficked parking lot? It's not as if I darted in front of him and dared him to hit me. Apparently the 5 seconds it took for him to stop ruined his day and he made a complete ass out of himself. I can only hope the woman with him was not his wife and that she was left wondering if he treated everyone that way, how would he be treating her soon enough? Well, I didn't let it ruin my day and instead called the non-emergency police line to report a dangerous driver in the Target parking lot. While he was fuming, I was jotting his license plate down in my phone.

The second experience happened, tragically, inside the store and can't be blamed on a stupid passerby. It was a Saturday, my first mistake, and I was rushing around with a list in one hand and a shopping basket in the other. My second-to-last stop was a grab for some cling wrap and a mom and her two kids were in the same aisle. I went by and stopped for a moment to ponder my choices and one of the kids came nearby. I picked some wrap and tossed it in my basket and the boy turned around to approach his mom and ran into my basket with his head. He let out a wail and his mother scurried over. I felt bad and the first words out of my mouth were "I'm sorry"...but what was I sorry for? Shopping? Carrying a basket? The mom didn't acknowledge me or my apology so I made a fast getaway to grab my last item and headed for the check-out.
I just don't get it. It's still bugging me! Would you have apologized too? Or what would you have done?

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