What a wearying day! It wasn't horrible but I am tired now. I went into town and got my crown cemented in. That wasn't so bad and did not take long and it seems to be set perfectly. Then, feeling a little sassy about it all, I decided to go to Target, just for fun. I doubt I've been to Target three times since Covid started. So I drove halfway across town and soon discovered that it was not fun. Not fun at all.
What the hell has happened to Target? It reminded me more of K-Mart than a Target. The clothes looked unbelievably cheap and shoddy, the shoe section had shoes all over the floor. Shelves were half empty. Whatever it used to be that attracted me to that store is no longer in evidence. Or else I've just changed. The cosmetic and personal care section is much larger now though, and they seem to have put their bets on that. It's almost like being in a Sephora or an Ulta but not really. Maybe ten years ago I would have been enchanted but no longer.
I found myself feeling that old shopping anxiety coming over me. Too much sensory input, a strong urge to bolt from the store and yet feeling as if I needed to check out everything just in case I was missing something wonderful.
I do not think I was.
I even purposefully shopped for an anniversary card for May and Michael and found nothing that I would even consider buying. I bought a few things. A child's version of Monopoly to play with the kids, a gallon of bleach, two barrettes. That was about it. It was ridiculous to spend all of that time being unhappy, to walk out of the store with that.
And I was so hungry when I finally left there that I was in that low blood-sugar place where you can't figure out what you should eat or where you can get it but I ended up at a local sandwich/salad place and got a turkey rueben which was pretty good but just as I started to eat I got a call from Mr. Moon. He had taken his Camaro into a shop to have a mechanic do some wiring on it that he could not figure out and it was ready to be picked up which would involve me going home and getting him to take him to get the car.
I could have cried.
I still had Costco and Publix to do and was already tired and beating myself up for going to Target but what was there to do but to eat my sandwich, get the rest of my shopping done, come home, unload and put everything away, and then drive my husband back to Tallahassee.
So I did.
And it wasn't so bad. Driving home by myself I went on a backroad which still looks like old Tallahassee for at least part of the way. I cannot believe the construction going on in that town. Apartment buildings and medical facilities and new restaurants and new strip malls and, and, and. Everywhere I look. And as someone who navigates by landmarks, I am confused.
Where the hell am I? I often find myself asking.
I mean, I know where I am but it doesn't seem like I'm where I am because whatever used to be there is not there any longer and something else, bigger and newer, is.
So coming home on that back road with old houses and fields and a canopy of oak trees was soothing to my soul and I enjoyed it. I passed so many azaleas blooming like fuchsia flames not a green leaf to be seen because of the multitudes of blossoms. I saw wisteria purpling entire trees, rising up into the sky. I saw the small white blossoms of wild plum covering trees unexpectedly growing in the woods that I passed, completely unnoticed but for a week or two this time every year.
And now I am home in Lloyd where yes, we do indeed have new construction, new growth, but nothing like Tallahassee. My landmarks are here, and so is my heart.
Mr. Moon is sniffling and coughing and blowing his nose and having a rougher time with this flu than I did. He's worked on a boat all day but decided not to go to the gym. I bought him industrial strength cough drops to help with the constant post nasal drip burning his throat and some NyQuil for him to take before bed if he wants. I noticed when I was looking for OTC meds to help him, that those shelves in both Target and Publix were spare. I guess everyone is sick. Throw in the yellow blanket of pine and oak pollen that covers everything and which many are very allergic to and which cause problems even with people who aren't, and we are a hacking, sneezing mess in North Florida right now.
Can't have the beauty without the bother and you can quote me on that one. Or as my mother used to say, "One has to suffer for beauty."
Wait. She may not have said that.
She did without doubt say, "Make yourself useful as well as so darn good-looking." I always thought that was hysterical.
That one's definitely worth quoting. Feel free.
Love...Ms. Moon
Yes, I've noticed that at Target as well of other stores of that ilk. Things seem to be a mess. They hire these kids who could get a shit and spend most of the day on their cell phones texting or whatever they do. A couple times I stopped one of them to ask a 'simple' question and all I got was, "dunno" and they walked away. Such is life in 2023, I guess. It's all pretty disheartening, though.
ReplyDeleteSorry Mr. Moon is not faring too well. A lot of crud is going around and it's miserable from what I hear. Better days ahead.
I love your mother's quote and will use that one! Thanks!
Paranormal John
Everybody I saw working there was WORKING! I imagine that they must have a shortage of workers. The ones there seemed busy and I saw none of them with phones. I think that to enter the job force now as a young person (and all of these employees were young) must be very, very discouraging. You cannot support yourself on what Target pays its floor staff. Just no way. I suppose a lot of the employees were also students at one of the local colleges or another.
DeleteIt's hard times for many, many people.
Mr. Moon is okay. We've both got the crud. Ugh. I'll be glad when it's gone.
last time I was in a Target was about 4 years ago and even then, it reminded me more of a Ross or K-Mart with nothing worthy of my time or money. Yuck! I'm not a shopper anyway.....except for food! And yes, I navigate by landmarks also and it's amazing what just a few months will do to change ones perspective. Hope Mr Moon feels better.......you too! Might you have soup and bread on your dinner menu tonight? Oh, sorry....soup and bread is for ME with 50 degree temps......not for you with high 80's!
ReplyDeleteSusan M
Yeah. It was just a far come-down from the Target of old. And obviously, I do not need to shop for FUN! Because it just isn't.
DeleteSoup and bread is on the menu tonight! I don't think it hit 80 today.
I used to love target, bright and interesting stock, even though I don't like shopping. But in the last couple of years it's gone downhill. Even the lighting is poorer. Understaffed, even the self checking has long lines, understocked, it's off my list now. I wonder if they're having management turmoil.
ReplyDeleteI hope Mr M doesn't overdo. You really can't push a virus that gets your lungs.
And I hope tomorrow is a better day!
You get exactly what I mean- it DID used to have bright and interesting stock. It just looks so dowdy and sad now. I imagine they are having management turmoil.
DeleteOf course Glen is overdoing it. Overdoing is what he does.
Sigh.
Stella and I went south today and it is like after covid everything cool shut down or turned to crap. It is everywhere. So I guess get used to it...Agreeing with Boud- The man needs to go to bed!
ReplyDeleteThe man only goes to bed for two reasons and being sick is not one of them. Sometimes he does spend a lot of time in his chair which is almost as good because he can sleep there.
DeleteCovid has indeed profoundly changed everything, hasn't it?
So the yellow blanket of pine and oak pollen is covered with a layer of snot. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI would say there are layers of pollen and snot. One on top of the other and then on top of the other and so on.
DeleteIt's disgusting.
I used to love our K-mart about thirty years ago, now I avoid it as much as I can, which is a lot, but I still go to Target for things now and then, just rarely. The clothes racks are much more crowded than they used to be and in the downstairs section which houses baby things and kitchenware and manchester as well as toys and stationery, is also more crowded. I think I may stick with Big W. instead.
ReplyDeleteOur K-Marts around here disappeared quite awhile back and honestly, I avoid Walmart at all costs. I have many, many reasons to dislike them intensely, not least of which is that they have put so many local places out of business. No way a family-owned hardware store can compete.
DeleteI do go there once in a blue moon but I generally feel very guilty about it. But at this point- what's the difference between them and Target? Not much.
You talk of many things that I know nothing about......we don't have any of those shops here! As for the blanket of yellow pollen......you can keep that thank you! Hope that Mr. Moon will be feeling better soon. ..and that the kids enjoy the Monopoly. We used to play that as kids, but it was a very long game. I assume that the kids version is much shorter?
ReplyDeleteThat's okay. People are probably much better off without the big chain box stores we have here.
DeleteYes. This version of Monopoly is much shorter. I'm not sure I've ever finished a game of the regular version in my life.
My son and daughter in law hate walmart and love target. The Walmart they have is huge, much larger than the walmart here. But...I never see that target is all that much different than the walmart. I keep quiet and go with the flow, but it's one of those things that always make me say, 'huh." I'm the one who's got the cold here. Day three. Last night I did take some OTC and put myself to bed. Did you go looking for your crow?
ReplyDeleteA lot of people avoid Walmart because of the way they treat employees. I think they've had to become better but for so many years, they didn't pay them enough to survive on and so most of them ended up on federal assistance, basically meaning that the government, as in WE the taxpayers, were subsidizing them. And how much money do the founders of that company have?
DeleteI doubt Target is much better.
NyQuil can be a lifesaver.
Have not seen my crow. I am bereft.
I know what you mean about Target. It used to be my go to store for clothes but they dropped Mossimo as their store brand and what they replaced it with is crap. I think I've bought maybe one piece of clothing there since. And I also know what you mean about knowing where I am but not knowing. We moved out here when our sweet little diverse inner city neighborhood became gentrified, tearing down all the cottages and building ugly three story lot line houses with the garage foremost so there was no place to park on the street. Anyway, it's been years since I drove through there and I would be totally lost if I had to rely on landmarks because there aren't any anymore. It's totally foreign. And by that I mean I didn't recognise anything and forget diversity.
ReplyDeleteI used to buy clothes at Target too. They had some cute things. NO MORE. At least I didn't see any of those Christian Fundamental dresses yesterday but it was all just a horror. Polyester out the yang.
DeleteEllen, you and I are both at the age where everything is changing so fast that it makes our heads spin. Where do all these people come from?
They've done a lot of "tear downs" in my city and are putting up giant houses that I don't know how people afford them. It's funny but I instantly forget what used to be there and I can rarely picture the quaint little home that's gone. We have a "Super Target" nearby and it isn't bad. They keep moving things around tho, so I have to wander through the whole store to find what I need but I have time to kill...
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same yesterday- what used to be here? Sure wasn't this giant apartment complex.
DeleteOur Target had changed things around a lot from the last time I was in there. It's not a super Target though.
That IS a good motto to live by! I went to Target while I was in Jacksonville but I didn't notice anything amiss with the merchandise. I didn't buy clothes, though, so maybe that's why. The cold you and Mr. Moon have sounds very much like what's going on here, so you might do a Covid test if you're curious -- but then, the world has moved on and people are just out and about no matter what, so maybe it no longer matters. To quote you: Who knows? Not me.
ReplyDeleteI did not peruse the men's wear section so I don't know if the situation is as bad there as it is in the women's or not.
DeleteWe do not appear to have covid. I took a test this morning.
How are y'all feeling?
The symptoms you & Mr Moon are exhibiting sound very similar to the ones I had when I got Covid. You might want to take a Covid test to rule it in or out. FWIW, I took the antiviral and it made a huge difference in my recovery.
ReplyDeleteNope. Not covid according to the test I took this morning.
DeleteGood! Happy to hear that. Reckon it's just a nasty flu bug. Hope you all feel better soon.
Delete"Make yourself useful as well as so darn good-looking." That is definitely worth storing away if only for the fun value - but I suspect it has an element of truth too, even if a little 'incorrect' by todays standards. For real life is usually less perfect than the 'right on' brigade would have us be.
ReplyDeleteIt was so odd because even though my mother said that frequently, it never did sound like something she'd say. I have to wonder where she picked it up.
Delete37paddington:
ReplyDeleteI’ve been having that AmTarget experience with every chain store I go into. Beth bath and Be used to be kind of fancy and high end and the last time I went in there it looked like a sparse disorganized warehouse and was depressing as hell. Target, even worse. The pandemic did a number on those brick and mortar places. We all shop online more and more. Sorry Mr. Moon is feeling under the weather. I notice it’s not stopping him though.
Typos! Apologies for not proofreading!
ReplyDelete