Tales of Target South Bay - Intro...
I hope that this post will be the first of few, several, or (best-case scenario) many about the people I work with at "Target in the 'hood". Mind you, the store I work at isn't quite in the hood - the shopping centre in which it is located is large enough to isolate the store from the surrounding area. But certainly a vast majority of the employees (excluding 95% of middle-management of course) traverse the streets of the surrounding neighborhoods en route to work each day. It may not truly be Target "in the hood," but it is certainly "of the hood."
While many of the questions I pose of myself center around the soci0-political-economic propriety of the big box store, I intend to steer clear from trying to resolve these questions/conflicts here. The reality is that almost all people will shop where they can find the best price, the workforce will go where the wages are best, and the frantic pace of living will draw the consumer to the place where they can acquire their requisite consumables in the least amount of time. Simply put, until our society, especially the powerful, places metaphysical concepts (e.g. wisdom, justice, and prudence) on the same footing as the rational (e.g. nominal GDP, the invisible hand of the market, and the incessant demand for "growth"), the big box stores aren't going anywhere. And meanwhile, ma and pop businesses, especially in the hood, flounder; management positions will go exclusively to those who are priveleged enough to have a college education; investors will continue to be able to make money (presumably, although the market may be exacting justice after all) by virtue of having money, not through the labor of their own hands; and the underclass will continue to be the "working poor," where many beautiful people, through no fault of their own apart from the situation they were born into, will labor simply to put food on their table, diapers on their children's bottoms, and with any luck pay the bills on the first of the month.
It is here where my story lies I hope...these are not pitiful creatures worthy of my charity. They are beautiful people, the handiwork of God, for whom many have replaced any delusions of grandeur with the mere desire for safety and survival. They are God's children, my siblings, and there lives, their stories - even if in brief - deserve to be told.
While many of the questions I pose of myself center around the soci0-political-economic propriety of the big box store, I intend to steer clear from trying to resolve these questions/conflicts here. The reality is that almost all people will shop where they can find the best price, the workforce will go where the wages are best, and the frantic pace of living will draw the consumer to the place where they can acquire their requisite consumables in the least amount of time. Simply put, until our society, especially the powerful, places metaphysical concepts (e.g. wisdom, justice, and prudence) on the same footing as the rational (e.g. nominal GDP, the invisible hand of the market, and the incessant demand for "growth"), the big box stores aren't going anywhere. And meanwhile, ma and pop businesses, especially in the hood, flounder; management positions will go exclusively to those who are priveleged enough to have a college education; investors will continue to be able to make money (presumably, although the market may be exacting justice after all) by virtue of having money, not through the labor of their own hands; and the underclass will continue to be the "working poor," where many beautiful people, through no fault of their own apart from the situation they were born into, will labor simply to put food on their table, diapers on their children's bottoms, and with any luck pay the bills on the first of the month.
It is here where my story lies I hope...these are not pitiful creatures worthy of my charity. They are beautiful people, the handiwork of God, for whom many have replaced any delusions of grandeur with the mere desire for safety and survival. They are God's children, my siblings, and there lives, their stories - even if in brief - deserve to be told.
Labels: target files
posted by Matt at
11:34 AM
0 Comments
