logophile
Verbose
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2004
- Posts
- 7,368
Reposted from my blog:
I snuck out for a kid-free early-morning trip to Target this morning. I managed to get to the store before the in-house Starbucks had even opened. I quickly gathered up the necessaries that had led me out into the newly-re-wintered weather, glad for several minutes of internal peace and quiet. Double checking my mental list, I headed for the check-out. As I was rounding the corner, I came face to face with the girl's section and was once again amazed that all the chains are already selling summer clothes in February when one particular display caught my eye. There were two styles of little girl T-shirts on a display. The first one made my mouth go agape. It was a sort of buttery yellow, short sleeved and had the word "Jesus" in a bubble-lettered arc, decorated with flowers and the like. "For fuck's sake," I thought to myself. "This is Target! Can we not escape the religious right even here?"
I glanced at the shirt next to it, afraid it would be more of the same. Instead, I was treated to a tan shirt with dark brown collar and cuffs with an all-caps entreaty that read, "BUY ME THINGS!"
The juxtapostion of the shirts (Jesus, buy me things) immediately brought our good friend Janis to my mind. I stopped in my tracks and went from one shirt to the other, dazed and dazzled by the spectacle created by a lazy merchandising exec in Minneapolis who most likely hadn't thought for one second about irony he was inflicting on the rest of the world with his innappropriate planogram. Or, maybe, just maybe, he too realized that Target is no place to be spreading the "good word" and this is his personal political statement. Maybe he's standing up and saying, no - shouting, "This is ridiculous! We have no business selling religion in our big box store."
To be honest, I thought for a minute about the story of young Jesus storming the temple, knocking over the tables of the mechants. I'm not a Christian, but even I know that the humble carpenter would be mightily perturbed to have his good name smeared across a t-shirt and displayed next to another that shouted at children to consume more THINGS.
My whole attitude of quiet and contempletive gratitude for a solo shopping trip dissolved as I made myself move again, taking my purchases to the register.
Join me for a round in tribute to Janis and Jesus - Everybody sing!
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a mercedes benz ?
My friends all drive porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So lord, won’t you buy me a mercedes benz ?
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a color tv ?
Dialing for dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh lord, won’t you buy me a color tv ?
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town ?
I’m counting on you, lord, please don’t let me down.
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town ?
I snuck out for a kid-free early-morning trip to Target this morning. I managed to get to the store before the in-house Starbucks had even opened. I quickly gathered up the necessaries that had led me out into the newly-re-wintered weather, glad for several minutes of internal peace and quiet. Double checking my mental list, I headed for the check-out. As I was rounding the corner, I came face to face with the girl's section and was once again amazed that all the chains are already selling summer clothes in February when one particular display caught my eye. There were two styles of little girl T-shirts on a display. The first one made my mouth go agape. It was a sort of buttery yellow, short sleeved and had the word "Jesus" in a bubble-lettered arc, decorated with flowers and the like. "For fuck's sake," I thought to myself. "This is Target! Can we not escape the religious right even here?"
I glanced at the shirt next to it, afraid it would be more of the same. Instead, I was treated to a tan shirt with dark brown collar and cuffs with an all-caps entreaty that read, "BUY ME THINGS!"
The juxtapostion of the shirts (Jesus, buy me things) immediately brought our good friend Janis to my mind. I stopped in my tracks and went from one shirt to the other, dazed and dazzled by the spectacle created by a lazy merchandising exec in Minneapolis who most likely hadn't thought for one second about irony he was inflicting on the rest of the world with his innappropriate planogram. Or, maybe, just maybe, he too realized that Target is no place to be spreading the "good word" and this is his personal political statement. Maybe he's standing up and saying, no - shouting, "This is ridiculous! We have no business selling religion in our big box store."
To be honest, I thought for a minute about the story of young Jesus storming the temple, knocking over the tables of the mechants. I'm not a Christian, but even I know that the humble carpenter would be mightily perturbed to have his good name smeared across a t-shirt and displayed next to another that shouted at children to consume more THINGS.
My whole attitude of quiet and contempletive gratitude for a solo shopping trip dissolved as I made myself move again, taking my purchases to the register.
Join me for a round in tribute to Janis and Jesus - Everybody sing!
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a mercedes benz ?
My friends all drive porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So lord, won’t you buy me a mercedes benz ?
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a color tv ?
Dialing for dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh lord, won’t you buy me a color tv ?
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town ?
I’m counting on you, lord, please don’t let me down.
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town ?
Oh thanks a lot, now I've got that song stuck in my head!! 
