Target has been my place of comfort since a very young age. I remember sitting in my car seat, waiting to see the red circles pop up on the beige building, excited to go into the store and stare in awe at all the things there are to buy. However, going to Target as an adult is a different experience. It no longer includes the toy section, but does include budgeting, and the failed attempt of controlling the desire to buy everything. So come with me to see what a shopping day at Target looks like!
I no longer sit in the car seat, I drive. Which in itself is a huge sign of adulthood, something that I had been waiting for for a long time. I find a parking spot and proceed to walk into the sliding doors. The smell of coffee from the indoor Starbucks enthralls me, but I resist the temptation to order myself an iced chai latte, as I had just bought some earlier. I grab a red cart and walk into the dollar section while my eyes glare at all the trinkets waiting to be bought. A small plant, a mini pillow, an organizer, I want to buy them all, but I put it away, as this is a Target run solely for the essentials.
The next section is the hardest to escape from — the clothing section. Brown yoga pants! White crop top! Oversized sweater! I give into my desires, and grab them all. After a bit of thinking, I decided to have some self control and get ONLY the yoga pants and the crop top. After some more pondering, I put away the crop top, allowing me to walk away with a bit of satisfaction, and a tinge of guilt.
I continue strolling, with only the yoga pants sitting in my cart, awaiting to see which object calls my name next. I come across the toy section, nostalgic, but with no desire to enter. I reminisce on my childhood, when I used to pull my parents into the toy section and make them walk past every aisle just to satisfy my innocent desires. I snap back into reality and head towards the book section, wandering through the genres, while reading the covers. After a while, I walk away, gaining sole satisfaction from reading just the covers.
The next section is the best part. THE FOOD SECTION! With so many varieties, I finally get to the section I came to target for. I stock up on all my snacks, from chips and salsa, to protein pancake mix, to premade salads. I buy whatever I think is necessary for the upcoming weeks. I allow myself to indulge in chocolates, or even a pint of ice cream.
Although I try to ignore this section, my legs automatically gravitate towards this section no matter how hard I try. The makeup section. Somehow magically as I leave this section, there is an increased amount of things in my cart. It’s almost like I did not realize I needed all of these items before I came here! Silly me! From Elf to a new face cleanser, there are new makeup products in my possession.
I proceed to self checkout, and the receipt shows the cost of this tremendous journey. But I walk out, feeling nothing but pure nostalgia and joy.