I hope that it is a long long time before I ever have to shop at Target again. I can’t stand that store. Not only did it take me twice as long to find what I needed, I ended up paying twice as much as I expected. And when I had finally made it through my list, I had no idea where the checkouts were. I was lost in an unfamiliar land of disgustingly skillful graphic design.
I happened upon a checkout and checked out. The cashier said, “Do you want a Target Redcard?” But really he said, “Djawannadargerekar?”
“A what?” I asked.”
“Adargar eckar. You can save 10%.”
I imagined a little keychain fob with red and white circles on it and thought back to how much I regretted never just getting a Hilander card during high school. And 10% is even better than the deals for cardholders at Hilander.
So I said sure and filled out the information they needed. Nothing too abnormal. Then he hands me the rest of the information and I instantly realize that they have signed me up for a credit card. So then I am really angry, but I have already spent at least forty minutes in the store, so I jut want to leave.
As I hastily put away my wallet and gathered my purchases, I heard the next-aisle cashier say to my cashier, “You got a Redcard? I’ve been trying to push them all day and I haven’t gotten anyone. They keep turning me down.”
I was furious. Now I wasn’t just a stupid girl who can’t tell a credit card scam when she sees one, I was the victim of their competition for commission. He had got me.
After wandering around the parking lot and finally finding my car, I sat down and took a look at the paperwork he had given me. What did 10% really mean? I found the section that said, “Shop RED. Get 10% off. Again. Again. And again.” The fine print reads, “Every time you use your REDcard, you will earn Target Rewards points. Every time you reach 1,000 points you’ll get another 10% off day at Target.”
So that’s what “You can get 10% off” means. I threw the paper down on the passenger seat and drove away from that stupid store.
Why did I choose to shop at Target anyway? It’s not like that was the first time I’ve been treated rudely at a Target. Well, first, because it is a little closer to school than the Wal-Mart. But mostly because in Social Justice Chapter we’ve been discussing how so many of our products are made by child laborers who never are able to receive an education or in sweatshops where they pay the workers fifteen cents an hour and force them to work ninety hours a week. And we’ve discussed that, in order to maintain its low prices, Wal-Mart is especially guilty of cooperating with and even setting up many of these factories, more guilty than stores like Target.
The only reason we can afford to have twenty t-shirts that we never use in our closets is because the people who make them can hardly afford one. So because Target has allegedly been less exploitative of its workers, I decided to shop there. Except today they made me feel exploited.
Anyway, I don’t know if shopping there makes any difference at all. I still bought Suave shampoo, Avery binders, and Nestle chocolate chips. They come from the same factory, and there’s no easy way to find out the conditions in these places. All department stores here routinely take advantage of extremely cheap labor in other countries and the cheap labor of trafficked human beings. The people who make our products are trapped between grueling, underpaid work and no work at all. They are slaves to the system that is so good to us. And if the best I can do to stop this is to shop at Target instead of Wal-Mart, it is a sad day.
So, I’m angry. I’m angry at mr. mumbling cashier. I’m angry at Target and there smooth, stealthy advertising (a turnoff to a career in graphic design). I’m angry at the companies who pay their workers wages that will never allow them to get out of debt and move on. I’m angry at the traffickers who tell foreigners that they’ll bring them to the United States and give them a job, only to lock them up in a factory when they get here.
But I’m not going to fall asleep tonight angry. I’m going to fall asleep dreaming of a store where everything is easy to find and my money goes to the people who deserve it. And there will be no credit card offers at this store.
