13 Feb On Target

The most common question I get asked when people find out I am from abroad, and more specifically England, is how America compares to across the Atlantic. I always start by commenting on the nicer, if slightly more unpredictable weather– because there is nothing more British than commenting on the weather and I have to live up to the brand. Next I talk about the shops. And the disgustingly marvelous food. Although undeniably pricey, corporate America have really outdone themselves in the range of choice consumers have in San Francisco. The retail branches don’t seem to end and the dining choices are out of this world. However, what I finish by saying when people ask what the best thing about the whole experience has been, is Target.

For those of you who do not know what Target is, that may explain why your life is empty. Target is brilliant. The closest thing we have to a Target in the UK is an IKEA, and you can’t just pop into an IKEA on your way back from the cinema and pick up DJ Decks, a bike, some toothpaste, dinner plates and a hot panini for the road. Not that I have done that, because DJ Decks would be a nightmare to get home on the Bart. Although I have acquired a strange amount of Target paraphernalia that seemed impossible to live without when standing in the ‘Outdoor Activities’ aisle of the store. Safe to say it was a rude awakening upon the arrival home realizing that we don’t, nor ever did we have a back garden. The transformable children’s climbing frame and playhouse has since been sat at the foot of my bed, making bedtime just that little bit more fun. It’s stood next to the plastic drawers, metal shoe rack and glow-in-the-dark beach and deck chair. Why you would need a sun chair that glows in the dark I don’t know, but it is a piece I decided my life had been missing at 9.27pm last Friday night. Target is where I spend my Friday nights now.

When the Target staff get bored of me lighting the candles and playing on the displayed nintendos, I am gently escorted from the premises to return the next day. In these times I am not in Target I have also found some great bookshops. Second-hand bookshops, non-fiction bookshops, bookshop chains and even an odd shop that sold only picture books, diaries and greetings cards. It took a while to find them, but stumbling upon each one has been a pleasant surprise. I have tried not to get too carried away in the purchasing of said books, for a multitude of reasons. The first being that with all the books I have to read for university I really shouldn’t have time to do any of my own, the second being that getting all my stuff out here was difficult enough without adding six tons of books to the load, and the third being that I don’t really have the money. This week the budget got low enough that the age-old question was asked: Food versus Books. I am not proud of the choice I made.

Saying this, I have found that the books we have been in assigned in my four variations of literature classes is brilliant reading. A lot of it is San Francisco based, and much like when I lived in London and Norwich I get a little kick out of when the author mentions a place I myself have been to. It makes me feel validated in some rational and completely reasonable way, as if the the choices I have made to get me to this point have landed me in the same place as someone who’s opinion is important enough to be in print. It is also a helpful guide as to where I should next check out in the city, from some breakfast place called ‘Rick and Ann’s’ to the Castro. Like a convoluted travel guide that makes you read the entire story to get to the good places – literally. Since being here though I have read some of the most amazing literature, most of it assigned by my instructors at SF State. If anyone is looking for a quick SF based short story ‘The Best Girlfriend You Never Had’ by Pam Houston would be where to start, if you’re after a hilarious graphic autobiography then ‘Hyperbole and a Half’ by Allie Brosh is out-of-this-world, and if you are after something a little more substantial the ‘Pushcart Prize XLI: Best of the Small Presses 2017’ has proved phenomenal so far.

I want to clarify that these are not available at most Targets, or at least not the ones I frequent. And, not to brag, but I kind of think I have the market cornered on traipsing through Target branches at unsociable hours. I guess it’s true what they say, you really do ‘find yourself’ while travelling. Is it underwhelming that I found myself while wandering the wide ‘Sports Goods’ aisle of Target at 9.27pm on a Friday night? No. No, it isn’t.