Fast, Fun & Friendly

Fast, fun and friendly will forever describe the years I dedicated to a company and received little in return - only the smallest paycheck I've ever gotten in my life, an insult when compared with the workload I've been given. Fast, Fun, and Friendly equals working somewhere where neither my concerns nor opinions are an issue, where I am treated with the least possible respect by executives who care nothing for their team members - those who do everything necessary to keep their store running. It means being looked down on by their barely-BA, sixty grand a year attitude, these executive team leaders with their debt, empty condos and endless excuses for our financial woes. Considering them, I wonder if I, at 23, had finished my Bachelors degree, would I accept a job as meaningless, unstable, and unforgiving as in retail? Would I think that my scarce or shift-like four years of college granted me supreme authority and the ability to sit behind a desk barking orders? Would I be pleased as I watch my employees get sucked deeper down a financial drain, meanwhile treating them as indentured servants or members of a sweatshop? Would I be satisfied with this?

I think not.

Having said this, I begin to realize even more painfully that the phrase "indentured servant" almost perfectly and hauntingly describes what I am at Target. An indentured servant slaves and struggles, not once seeing a penny. And yet, they agreed to it, to pay off past or current debts. That is what I am. A couple of years ago, I agreed to this, yes, and now I am trapped. It seems the longer I work at Target, the more trapped I am, and the more my debts increase. And, alas, as hard as I try, I can't get out! I struggle for that elusive degree as my only hope for salvation. Meanwhile, I observe Target and wonder what fast, fun and friendly really means. I think, 20 years ago, it was meant to describe a place that was fun to work, the people were nice, and they did it with speed. In other words, it's merely retail propaganda. And now, more than ever, it describes not one shred of the Target Corporation. Cutting hours until team members lose their medical insurance and can't pay their bills while giving them greater responsibility and a miniscule raise or none at all, increasing their workload and sending them home earlier, without so much as a thank you, is that what Fast, Fun, and Friendly was meant to be? Because now, that's all it is.