Talking at Target

I find that the most interesting, thought provoking, and truthful conversations happen in the least planned for places. On a recent trip to a nearby Target the store is not set up for lengthily in-depth conversations and it white and red isles with linoleum floors and metal shelves do not offer a comfortable or specific place to talk about issues. I have noticed that because so many people spend so much time at Target they become comfortable with the environment and they are willing to freely express their concerns and openly start conversations with other shoppers and since they are already at Target they don't have to go out of their way to express their opinions. Generally the people that you most often fall into discussions on shopping trips with are the single older ladies and mothers. Topics range anywhere from rental laws to the quality of local schools. The last conversation that I was a part of started with a mother picking up a deck of math flashcards and examining them. Another mother chimed in to say that they were fantastic cards and before we knew it our conversation about flashcards branched into a conversation about the public education in our area. The participants in the discussion had strong opinions and the tone was rather tense. When another mother joined the conversation and thought that her child’s education was perfectly fine in the local public schools the other mother had a look on their face that said “then you must not be paying attention to your child’s schooling”. Shortly after that the conversation broke up and each woman went her separate way with her cart. Overall the view of the group was pessimistic. For these mothers their child’s education is one of their primary concerns and if they have a negative outlook on that then their overall outlook on the community is not the best.