What do D.C., Target and Edina have in common?

Nothing, really. I just wanted to cover some of my day in one post.

It's amazing how such silly things amuse me. For instance, take the following nugget from today: I was driving through Edina, that culturally snobby, high ground of vast prosperity of the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities, and there was a Lexus in the lane next to me with D.C. plates. I just had to laugh because all I saw was "Taxation Without Representation" at the bottom of the plate, and that pretty much sums up my frequent opinions of D.C. Doesn't it feel like our representation is hardly present or representative? And yet, taxes do seem to be rawther high. (OK, so you're probably thinking that was not even a nugget of aluminum, let alone gold. It was, however, at least in the category of hard, crusty dirt nugget.)

So, whilst I was in Edina, I visited Target. I love Target. I don't go there all the time, mainly because I don't always have money to buy anything and therefore shopping can be both a waste of time & depressing, but sometimes it's just fun to wander through and see what they have there. It's a nicely inexpensive store, and I refer not only to the products but also to the cost of the entertainment to be had while exploring it. Seriously, you could make a day of it. Check out some kitchen appliances and handy gadgets, shake the light bulbs, try on some shoes. See what's new in automotive. If you get tired, lounge around on the furniture and read one of their books. They have a restaurant-type feature along with aisles of junk food if you're feeling peckish, and then restrooms after that. You can play with the toys and ride the bikes around for speedy access to other areas of the store. You can catch the sample movie while you browse the latest in DVDs and CDs. Buy something and then immediately grab one of those ticket things to get in line to return it. If you get sleepy and need a nap, pilfer a pillow and a blanket from the bedding area and head for the tents. The camping department always comes in handy during a hard day of Targeting. Try on all the clothes and sunglasses. In the summer, rearrange the patio sets; in winter, redecorate the Christmas trees. You can choose some film, test out the cameras, snap some pictures of your Target day and you get your film developed right there. While you wait One Hour, go chat it up with the nice old folks who are getting their prescriptions filled in the pharmacy. Why not live it up? Get your blood pressure checked with that comfy cuff. When you've got the glossies back, you can go find the scrapbooking and office materials in order to complete your documentation of your trip to Target. And that's just the regular Target. Think of how much more time could be spent looking at groceries in the Superstores?

It's amazing the quality of the Targets, though. There is one that is probably a mile away from the Edina Target - over the freeway and in Bloomington - and it is just like the sale-out-of-the-back-of-a-rental-truck in comparison. Why is that? One mile and the same chain takes such a dive. There's never any good merchandise, you can't find what you want because nothing's where it should be, and the selection of what merchandise there is is more sparse than a monk's closet. I guess we're just back to the Edina thing - that culturally snobby, high ground of vast prosperity where there is no wrong side of the tracks. (I'm sure the wrong side of the tracks probably just refers to the neighboring suburbs. That's probably why I take such offense; I live in one of the neighboring suburbs and I'm tired of being pooh-poohed. Well, not that anyone has ever literally said that to me, but you must by now get the idea that I'm annoyed with Edina tonight for absolutely no good reason.) The only great thing I've noticed lately about the Target in Bloomington is that the Bloomington store has a brand new Starbucks inside. I guess that'll show them! But probably not. As if there isn't a Starbucks on every corner anyway, the Edina residents are probably thinking that Bloomington is finally catching up (though that's far from true) and even then we couldn't get a stand-alone Starbucks. However, the residents of Bloomington know that Edina is just jealous since we have the largest mall in America in our 'burb and they don't.

I really have no idea why I'm ripping on Edina tonight - I used to work there at this store in this location, and I still live next door, and I will continue to visit often. So on that note, I'll just end this odd little tirade of mine before get in too deep and swear off Edina forever, or some resident reads this and pooh-poohs me the next time I drive through.