Targeting at Target

Yesterday was a beautiful, (and in my humble opinion) a productive day. Once the regular morning chores were out of the way, George and I took a walk, had lunch, and visited our friend Jack to pick up a small folding workbench. George thought he needed one (I’m still not sure for what) but I decided that if it afforded him something to focus his mind on rather than television, it was a good thing. After all, some studies have shown that “puttering” is good for people with Parkinson’s. The bench can be set up in our garage to give him a place to organize various things. It is a good height, and the price was right!

After a brief stop at the auto parts store (don’t know what we needed THERE, either!), we headed to Target. I do not intend to create a commercial for this department store, but we do like it. It is convenient to our home, offers many items we shop for, and if we need a couple of grocery items, we can get those at the same time. The thing that appeals most to George is the fact that Target has battery-powered carts on which he can ride through the store.

Generally, I don’t mind spending time “just looking” in stores when I have the time to do it. However, yesterday, it was approaching 5:00 pm and by that time I was getting hungry! You see, while George is casually and comfortably riding on his cart, I’m having to walk up and down every aisle. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but I thought “enough is enough!” (The good part was that I almost reached my goal of walking 10,000 steps yesterday!)

You may be aware that some of the medications for Parkinson’s (such as carbidopa-levodopa) can exacerbate obsessive-compulsive behaviors, so George’s shopping forays have become just that. It seems that he wants to buy things we have no need for, and while I understand his condition, I can lose patience (especially when I’m hungry!).

Before we left the store, George became confused. There were two reasons for this: (1) only one cashier was open, and (2) there was a lengthy line of folks waiting to check out. When a cashier came to open another lane, I started to unload our cart, only to learn that she was unable to access the computer with her password! More confusion ensued. When I tried to explain to George that he had to go to a different cashier, it was bedlam. He turned the cart in the absolute wrong direction, and rammed into a display shelf and almost wiped out another cart and customer! Needless to say, my blood pressure began to rise. When we finally got turned around, a kind person rearranged the display where several items had fallen to the floor.

It has been said that no one dies from embarrassment, which is a good thing, and explains why I am still living today!

In football, “targeting” is a severe penalty whereby a player can be ejected from the game for deliberately tackling the ball carrier in a dangerous way. On an intellectual level, I of course know that George did not hit anything deliberately. However, on an emotional level, I fear I may “penalize” George for “targeting at Target.” It will be a while before we return to our favorite store.