Day Thirty-Two: Are We Segregating Our Discount Stores?

I am a loyal Target shopper. It's close, convenient, relatively economical and they have everything I need. I have even bought clothing there and like it enough to admit that yes, I got this fabulous sweater at Target! In fact, I'm not sure I have ever walked out of Target without spending over a $100, no matter how many times I only went in for paper towels. It just happens. Needless to say, I feel comfortable there and never really take the time to look around me. Until tonight.

Horrible housekeeper that I am, I do not own a vacuum cleaner. Well, I had a Dyson, but the husband has custody of it so I've been borrowing the neighbors or more frequently, just ignoring the need. Tonight was the night all that was going to change and after conducting thorough online research of about four minutes I settled on the model and found that Walmart has it $20 cheaper than my beloved Target. But wait, there's a Walmart in Charlotte? I've never seen one here. Weird. Even so, as much as I hate the "Wal," twenty bucks is twenty bucks, so off I went.

I loathe Walmart. While Target seems warm and welcoming, giving off a comfortable "you belong here vibe," Walmart feels and looks cheap. Those high raftered ceilings make it look and feel like a warehouse and while yes, their prices are cheap, so too seems their merchandise. When Jeff and I lived in Ft. Leavenworth briefly, all they had was a Walmart, so I spent some time there when I couldn't do without and begrudgingly went. It's never been a place I like or feel comfortable in, because when it comes right down to it, I'd rather pay more and feel good about myself, than to get a deal and feel cheap.

Tonight I learned a valuable lesson and one I'm maybe not so thrilled about it. Target is for white people and Walmart is for black people. Now don't get angry yet, I am certainly not suggesting we segregate the discount department stores. If we were going to do that I couldn't care less about race, my vote would be for all the stupid people to be banned to Walmart. It's not my rule, just an observation and now that I've noticed it, I find myself wondering what it says about our society in the larger context.

I certainly do not shop at Target because I'm looking for some sort of Aryan Nation shopping experience. As I mentioned initially, I rarely pay any attention to who else is in Target, in fact it never even occurred to me that it might not be a normal cross-section of discount shoppers. Then I went in search of a vacuum in Walmart and I started to look around. Walmart is unfamiliar and feels low-rent, so I find myself being forced to look around to try to find things, but also to notice the shoppers there because like it or not, I'm a snob.

Anyone who has ever been on the www.peopleofwalmart.com site knows that it's usually the lowest common denominator types that shop there. What I never even thought about, was the race of the shoppers. What the hell do I care what race they are. So is my noticing actually a statement on my comfort level at the more upscale Target? In other words, is the reason I do not notice the customer base at Target because they are whiter and the resultant comfort level it evokes screens my conscious knowledge of it? Am I noticing how many minorities (and overweight women in skirts that are way too short, men with interesting facial hair, and the random homemade superhero costume of sorts) are in Walmart simply because some part of me grasps the usually majority of other whites (or shoppers of any race with good fashion judgement)? I don't think so, but how do I know?

Am I a racist shopper without a conscious awareness of it? How awful. Or is it actually possible that I like it for the quality, ease of layout, convenience to home and loyalty? I hope that's what it is, it would definitely suck at my age to suddenly find out I have some weird racist shopping agenda. Aside from that glaring issue, is the question of why. Why do more minority shoppers go to Walmart. Why are so many white people not currently living in trailers or their parent's basements Target shoppers? It's all so confusing, and a little disappointing actually. I am certainly not going to stop shopping at Target because of this, but I also wish I could start forcing myself into Walmart to at least prove that I am not a shallow, classist, or even racist shopper.

I just want my paper towels (and the other $96.17 worth of crap I will undoubtedly buy) from a place I like and one in which I know where everything is. I want to do this without feeling like I am making a larger and not okay political statement. I'm not racist, I just like Target. Our society still has a long way to go and while I hope the majority of people are like me and they do not see race, after tonight I'm really starting to wonder.