In which I dis everyone’s favorite place
con·trar·y
–adjective1. opposite in nature or character; diametrically or mutually opposed: contrary to fact; contrary propositions.2. opposite in direction or position: departures in contrary directions.3. being the opposite one of two: I will make the contrary choice.4. unfavorable or adverse.5. perverse; stubbornly opposed or willful.
I freely acknowledge that I’m a bit contrary.
It’s not that I want to be difficult. I don’t mean to cause a problem. And I’m a displaced Yankee Southern lady, so I certainly wouldn’t want to be any bother.
I’m just…different.
If everyone is doing it, I’m probably not.
If everyone likes it, I probably don’t.
It’s just the way I roll.
I’ve been like this forever. When Commodore 64 was all the rage, I was lovin’ my Texas Instruments. When NKOTB had all the girls squealing, I was discovering Leonard Cohen. While my friends left high school for college, I took a year off and weighed my options.
Contrary.
I never liked the popular guys in high school, never swoon over dreamy movie stars. I’ll take me the offbeat brainiac in the corner anyday.
Now let me warn you, several of you are going to be upset with what I’m about to say. I know for a fact that a couple of you might even feel physical pain at what I’m about to tell you. Allow me to apologize in advance. I don’t mean to upset you. And I’m not insulting you personally. This is a macro situation.
As an adult, perhaps the biggest evidence of my contrariness (is that a word?) comes in the form of my shopping habits. The great divide between myself and my friends is Target. You know, the ‘discount’ store that you all love.
Guess who doesn’t?
Tar-jay. Gag me with a spoon, people. Target is the store that sells cute stuff for twice the price you could get it elsewhere. (Cue the parade of loyal shoppers declaring that is so not true) Every time I hear a Target person make fun of Wal-Mart, they cement my love of Wal-Mart and disdain for Target a little bit more.
I know your opinion of us.
But as a Wal-Mart person, I can tell you that we have opinions of you, too.
We think you’re snobs. We don’t like the way you make fun of Wal-Mart, and drink your ridiculously over-priced coffee while you look down your noses at us. We think you’re not nearly as smart as you like to think you are, since we buy the same products on rollback. AND, we think the fact that Target does not allow the Salvation on their property is really, really crappy. [Yeah, I went there. Again. Stop me when it fails to be true.]
But how often do you hear a Wal-Mart person saying all that? um, never. Wal-Mart people can’t get away with it. Yet it’s common and apparently perfectly acceptable for Target people to belittle us.
Target people, you know how you say that Wal-Mart is dirty and people there are rude?
Wal-Mart people see your store as putting on airs and your people equally as rude, but catty about it.
I don’t know why this little piece of retail real estate has come to mean so much to me, but it has. Don’t even start on all of the things that are wrong with Wal-Mart corporation - I know. And I could give you a Target laundry list in return. I’m not debating the morality of big business here, I’m talking about the day-to-day attitude of the public.
The ‘Target is where it’s at’ mentality.
Maybe that’s why I’ve declared myself firmly in the Wal-Mart camp.
I’m contrary like that.
Tags: contrary, target, Target snobs, Target vs. Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart
Hopelessly Flawed Confessions, How I See the World, Shopping | Heather March 4, 2010
By Rebecca, March 4, 2010 @ 9:47 am
YOU’RE FIRED, Heather!!!
LOL…just kidding.
I’m not a snob, but I love Target and hate Walmart. Maybe yours are different there?
When I enter Target, I get a feeling of euphoria. Like, “I’m home…I’m with my people”.
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By Darcie - Such The Spot, March 4, 2010 @ 10:14 am
Maybe it’s a regional thing? I know you well enough to be able to say with certainty that if you lived where I live you, too, would HATE the Wal-Mart. Around here, the Wal-Mart is the Six Flags to Disney. Those terms, I’m sure you can appreciate.
Darcie – Such The Spot´s last blog ..Cheesy Dreams
By Amanda, March 4, 2010 @ 10:17 am
Our Walmart is super clean and nice. Honestly it’s probably the nicest WM I have EVER been in. I will admit I have entered other WM’s and been pretty grossed out. I guess we’re lucky. I do shop there all the time.
I still heart Target way more, though. But I never sip overpriced coffee while I shop there, though.
Amanda´s last blog ..The Bowling Pro
By mary b, March 4, 2010 @ 10:45 am
Must be a regional thing. I will admit that when NH & VT were w/o WM I was quite content.
Until a very recent remodel at a WM near me, all of our WMs were kind of yucky. They are definitely making a change to upgrade the look and become more “shop-able”, and less disorganized.
Oh, and the coffee, if I am not carrying home made I do like my $1 GMC from McD’s, no $6 lattes for me
mary b´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: Some things never change
By heather, March 4, 2010 @ 3:09 pm
I’ll admit it, I don’t like WalMart. But that’s because it’s a stressful environment, starting at the parking lot. I visit WalMart maybe twice a year. When I do go, I tend to go into consumer overdrive, there is just so.much.stuff. and it’s low priced. So I don’t mind that part at all. But due to the stressful nature, I pay more shopping at Publix for groceries.
Then, there’s Target. We don’t have one of those. And if we did I’d visit it about as often as WalMart. It does seem different inside. The stuff a bit nicer, but more spendy. If we had a Target, I would likely feel about the same as I do about WalMart.
For me and discount stores, well I kind of like our Kmart. It’s actually an anchor store at our mall (speaks a lot about the excitement of our mall, huh?!). It’s quiet, they have lots of stuff and I think a lot of it rivals the other stores. Things are actually pretty nice! The toy section? Well the one year I tried my hand at selling toys online…Kmart was my gold mine.
All in all, I’ve become an online shopper. I find myself overwhelmed at the actual stores like say, Gymboree, all of the clothing everywhere. Not in a nice, neat format like it is online.
And that is my 2 cents…for whatever it’s worth.
heather´s last blog ..giving back and paying it forward…
By Becca - Our Crazy Boys, March 4, 2010 @ 3:14 pm
Good for you for speaking your mind, girl…
If there were a clean Walmart within 20 miles of my house, I would go. Can I tell you a story about the one closest to my house?
The last time I went, I saw a little boy peeing in the women’s room.
ON THE FLOOR.
Yes, his Mom was there.
She was watching.
I want to go to your Walmart!!
By Cindy522, March 4, 2010 @ 5:31 pm
Oh NO! Guess what I was gonna write, Heather?
That’s right.. “I prefer Kmart”.
Cindy522´s last blog ..Advertise Your Business – Yourself!
By Heather, March 4, 2010 @ 5:47 pm
I like K-Mart too, but we don’t have one here.
This link was just sent to me from a friend, and it illustrates my point perfectly.
http://steve-olson.com/10-reasons-target-is-better-than-wal-mart/
Hijackers and serial killers shop at Wal-Mart because they are among “their people”?
Of course everyone who pointed out to him how obnoxious that statement was were told that they failed to understand the humor. Not true. I ‘get’ the joke and I don’t think it’s funny. It’s snobbish and unkind. Since when is belittling people acceptable?
That’s the kind of thing that has made me love Wal-Mart (even when I had a not-so-great one) – I like real. I like simple, unassuming.
I said on Facebook, if this were high school Target would be the mean cheerleaders and Wal-Mart would be the mousy band geeks. I’m good with the band geeks – they never made fun of anyone. Those are my people.
(And Rebecca – the ‘people’ thing came up twice here, but that is NOT directed at you! I know what you meant. xoxo)
By Cindy522, March 4, 2010 @ 5:48 pm
I don’t think the issue here is about being regional. I think Heather IS referring to those things that make us think “you, too, would HATE the Wal-Mart. Around here, the Wal-Mart is the Six Flags to Disney.”
I tend to be the anti-Heather. We agree about almost eveything, but we are totally different.
Yes, its snobbery that I do not go to Walmart, because of the people there. AND, its snobbery that “Id rather pay 20% more for this stuff, than go into Walmart to get it”.
I question, though, if THOSE “walmart people” notice or care about my snobbery. They do not seem to notice how filthy their clothing and hair is, and they do not seem to care that they are walking in the middle of the roadway, or blocking the aisle.
–I also have to ask Heather. What causes your stress when you go into Walmart? Are you sure its not the exact SAME things that lead to lots of us being “anywhere-but-Walmart” people?
Cindy522´s last blog ..Valentine’s Day Clothing for Girls
By Cindy522, March 4, 2010 @ 5:58 pm
I like simple and real too. I think you’ve missed it, Heather.
Walmart wouldnt be the band geeks. Walmart would be the burnouts. The kids smoking in the bathroom(and keeping it off limits to others), defacing property, and ruining things for the rest of us, out of blatent disregard for everyone.
By Melisha, March 5, 2010 @ 5:43 pm
I guess I’m double contrary…
I not a fan of Target or Wal-Mart. I can get better deals at grocery stores and drug stores.
By Eva, March 6, 2010 @ 6:42 pm
we have wal-mart only here… and I like it. I wonder what would I like better if I had a choice?
Eva´s last blog ..Dear Lego…!
By tracym, March 7, 2010 @ 11:48 pm
No worries – but I invite you to come shop at the Wal-Mart and Target in my hood. They are directly across the street from each other. The Wal-mart is dirty, has gangs of people standing outside smoking and loitering, has 2 full-time cops stationed there, shootings and car-jackings in the parking lots. Every time I have walked in there, I have been harassed by other shoppers and have had my purse stolen once! Immediately across the street – is Target. Never a cop, never a shooting, clean floors, happy people. Seriously it is BIZARRE. But if you lived here, you TOO would shop at the Target.
xoxo,t
tracym´s last blog ..The Party…
By Diane, March 10, 2010 @ 8:23 am
Your post cracked me up. I’ll admit, I like Target (don’t unfriend me). I like walking through the cleared aisle looking at cute stuff. I like the trail mix that they sell. I like the fact that the wheels of my shopping cart don’t feel like they’re about to fall off, and that I’m not afraid of contracting a virus when I touch the handle.
BUT, if I want a bargain, Target is definitely not the store I go to. Every time I shop at Wal-mart I spend about $50. I can’t get out of Target for less than $100. Guess where I shop more?
Diane´s last blog ..Try this at home – LOVE it!
By Michelle, March 10, 2010 @ 12:36 pm
Hi Heather,
I found your blog through a comment you left on Becca’s at OurCrazyBoys.
I would have to totally agree with you. Target claims to be a discount store, and if you look at your monthly statement, the description even says ‘discount store’, but their prices are clearly not discounted. They are so overpriced, it’s ridiculous. I much prefer Walmart. I even do my grocery shopping there because of their price match. Don’t even get me started on Target’s craft department. I’ve never found a Target with a fabric section… ug. Ok, off my pedistal now!
Nice to meet you!
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