>Today, I did something I never do. I went to Target in the middle of the day on a weekend by myself.
Normally, I would avoid said store like the plague after 9:00 am on weekend, unless I was accompanied by my sister or one/both of my parents. Since I am trying to use housework as a form of exercise (which is cheaper and more productive than mindlessly running on a treadmill), I needed to procure a few items I couldn’t find during my usual 7 AM grocery store run.
Note: I go to these stores early in the morning in order to avoid people. People annoy the shit out of me. Sorry, but it’s true. A person one on one is fine, but as a collective group, most of the time, people just rub me the wrong way. Yes, I know I need to change my mind about that. And yes one on one sometimes a person annoys me too.
Anyway, I thought I would overcome my fear of stupid people. One surprising side effect was that I saw possibly single men wandering through the store. I tried my hardest to make eye contact with one or two, but old defense mechanisms die hard. Being alone in public means avoiding eye contact whenever possible. It comes from years of living alone in a big city. Thusly, it’s difficult to find a date when not using one of the many online services.
However, by the end of my shopping trip, my anger and frustration was beginning to resurface. Every aisle I went down had some mouth-breather blocking it with their cart. Otherwise, I had to dodge and weave those folks wandering aimlessly through the store, which to their defense has recently been remodeled. When I started thinking these random things, I knew it was time to go home:
Little children make odd sounds. Seriously, is that a toddler or an exotic bird that I hear.
How the hell is a chihuahua a service dog?
What the hell can it fetch for that chick?
It’s not going to keep people out of her way. It will probably get stepped on before she leaves.
Maybe it keeps her calm and prevents her from going postal. Maybe she should just shop online instead of dragging her little random dog through the store while I throw her a look of incredulity.