It was 8:31am on a Tuesday as I pulled into the parking lot of the Target department store conveniently located on my way into work. This store has one of those slow-opening automatic doors which always gives me pause, wondering if they’ve changed their store hours. The infrared sensor finally detected my presence and I was allowed entry. As I headed past the Customer Service counter, I glance at the smattering of employees milling about nearby. They seemed to be sizing me up, as if they knew my agenda. This caused me to feel a slight twinge of shame.

My pace was steady and deliberate. I found I was not the lone customer at this early hour. There was a woman in running pants and a t-shirt, pushing her two-year-old-laden cart through the Beauty section. Judging from her shape, my guess was those pants had never actually been used for their intended purpose. A confused-looking senior man came to the end the Greeting Card aisle, looked at me and seemed about to speak, but thought better of it. No, sir, I’m not an employee and it’s unlikely I could help you.

I’ve arrived at my destination…Electronics. I wisked past the iPod display and the marked down 32″ Vizio HDTVs.

“Do you need help finding anything?” asked a rotund, goateed young man from behind his mound of soon-to-be-stocked boxes of merchandise.

“Nah, I’m good…thanks”, I replied. The fewer people who know about this, the better.

I turned the corner right next to the small clearance end-cap. There they were, in all of their discounted glory. Dead Space…$19.98. Resistance: Fall of Man…$14.98. Prince of Persia…wait, it’s all the way down to $9.98?! All of these have gotten great reviews. I should think about this, though. I haven’t even begun the main quest line of Oblivion. There’s are two more islands to explore in inFamous. Chapter Five of Valkyria Chronicles has been staring me in the face every night.

Ten minutes and $26.77 later, I was back in my car, pulling out of the Target parking lot. The guilt had already started to set in.

• No Related Posts