Sigh….

Amores, I’m STILL writing letters to Target and STILL waiting for a considered response. Here’s the latest. I hope you’re still with me. And if you are, don’t forget to send a letter of your own: gregg.steinhafel at target.com, denise.may at target.com, and guest.relations at target.com.

Hola Target,

I don’t know about you, but this Boycott Target thing is really getting on my nerves. There are a lot of things I want to buy at Target. For example, I was reading Lucky magazine this weekend and saw an ad for a SUPER cute purple sweater dress at Target. For a moment, I forgot that you had donated $150,000 to an organization that supports an incredibly anti-gay and anti-immigrant candidate, and just saw the possibility. I have red hair and hazel eyes, and I look great in purple. Plus, a sweater dress is one of my favorite items of clothing – conservative enough that I can wear it to my job as an educator, but form fitting enough that it complements my curves. At $24.99, it is totally affordable, and it would go beautifully with the brown knee high boots I bought at Target last fall. My first, unfiltered instinct was to jump up and go to Target. That might sound like I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. I live 5 blocks from a Target, and am an unrepentant compulsive shopper. When you debuted your Anna Sui Gossip Girl collection, I was there at 8am in the morning, coffee in hand, so running out to buy a sweater dress on impulse is as in-character for me as breathing and wearing lip gloss. But then I remembered: I can’t shop at Target. Not right now. Not yet.

But I want to! So… I’m writing you (again!) to ask if you have any plans to balance out the contribution you made to MN Forward with a donation to a candidate or organization that supports gay civil rights or humane immigration reform?

I know that’s not an easy proposition. You’re probably worried that if you did that, your Christian right wing consumers would freak out. I think that’s true, but believe me: your gay shoppers and gay allies are freaking out already! And we may be a smaller percentage of your consumer base but I’m comfortable stereotyping us as passionate shoppers. I’ll use me as an example:

In the past two weeks, I’ve purchased the following: a lamp, a pack of pens, 3 picture frames, diapers, baby wipes, nylons, 3 different Revlon lip colors, blush, garbage bags, sponges, a ring, Draino, two types of air freshener (that’s an embarrassing story involving a baby who just learned how to take off her diaper), a bunch of magazines, a notebook, shampoo, conditioner, hair dye (that red hair I mentioned requires a monthly touch up), moisturizer, thumbtacks, an electric tea kettle, 2 nail polishes, a large bowl, and an eye shadow. I probably would have purchased every single one of these items at Target (you know, the one conveniently located just five blocks from my house?) but instead, I’ve been driving around to all kinds of places that I don’t find nearly as appealing or impulse-shopping worthy as Target. You’ll notice I haven’t bought any clothes of late, which is pretty rare for me. I’m on a super tight budget right now because I’m in the middle of buying a house, so I guess that’s the ONE good thing about this boycott fiasco: I have never, ever, ever walked out of a Target without buying myself a little “treat” (a purse, a dress, some earrings, cute boots) but believe me, it is really easy to walk out of a Menard’s with nothing but the things on my list. My budget thanks you but my closet does not.

Okay, so that house I mentioned? Our closing date is coming up in three weeks and I would love, love, LOVE to buy all kinds of new home necessities at Target: new bath mat, new shower curtain, hammer, shop vac (do you sell those?), picture frames, lamps, rugs, gardening tools, lawn furniture, Halloween accessories that show we’re going to be fun neighbors, trash cans, storage containers, a cute purple sweater dress, and much much more. You know from my last four letters that I take this boycott seriously, so PLEASE Target, please with whipped cream and half my bank account on top, make this right before October. You can do it. I know you can.

Your (once loyal) shopper,

Coya Paz