Target = Tar-jhay
In college and the years that followed, my friends and I referred to the discount superstore Target as "Tar-jhay," creating a faux french word that made our discount shopping feel a bit less WalMart and a smidge more Saks. Er, Macy's. Moving to New York, I found that "Tar-jhay" was widely used colloquially.Have you noticed lately in TV ads that Target has begun publicly embracing the slang? They use a series of french words -- "tres this" and "tres that" -- and wind it up by incorporating "tres Tar-jhay" at the end of the commercial.
Maybe this isn't new -- and maybe Target itself embedded the french slang into American culture so many years ago. But my Target awareness has been piqued again because of a recent visit after maybe six years away from mass discount stores.
You see, my office was robbed recently and I was in the market for a new stereo. I had purchased my stereo (thankfully) at a thrift store. (The robbers skipped the computers in my office -- going instead for the thrift store stereo and the top of my shredder. Not the whole thing. Just the top of the shredder. Perhaps they needed a cheese grater.) But back to the stereo. It had a five CD changer, bass boost and surround sound. All sorts of shizz.
This weekend I happily found a Tar-jhay that was just off of a BART stop (not having a car). I grabbed a friend and off we went. It was the re-education of Mr. Me, let me tell you. It's a bold new world at Tar-jhay and I wasn't prepared.
Did you know they don't sell regular stereos at Tar-jhay anymore? All they had -- save for two ridiculous little jobbers in the corner -- were white spacey-technoey sound devices that allow you to plug in your iPod. Your iPod! Not any old regular MP3 player (which I have in my phone).
Disgruntled and feeling behind the times, I decided to soothe myself by leaning on my big orange plastic cart and pace around the store a bit. Ah, the things I could find! But none of it truly appealed to me -- and secondarily, I didn't actually need any of it. Except a nose and ear hair trimmer. What has it come to?
But not to get off point -- yes, I realize a nose and ear hair trimmer could warrant a post unto itself -- the second slap in my "behind-the-times" reality check came when I noticed that I kept bumping the end of the cart into the shelves. Not having had any alcohol before or during my trip, I was confused. And then it slowly came to me that Tar-jhay had made its carts larger. They've super-sized their carts! What is this country coming to? Did some hugh consulting firm tell Target they should super-size their carts and Americans will buy more? Undoubtedly.
So they've discontinued big, fat grey-black CD-changing stereos. Added two inches to the end of the end of the shopping cart. Begun calling themselves Tar-jhay. And all I need when I visit my local Tar-jhay is a nose and ear hair trimmer?
I must have passed unaware into some middle-aged oblivion. Can cataracts be far off?
Happily, I can't say I'm concerned beyond a half page blog entry. I think I'm going to enjoy the second half of life -- stereo or not.
posted by Jay @ 5:50 AM
2 Comments:
Yay! You're back! I'm so sorry you were the victim of such a bizarre robbery. You should check out Circuit City and Best Buy -- or maybe a Sam's Club. They have better cheap electronics than Tar-zhay. :)
I've had too many stereos stolen from me - well just two, but that's too many. Sorry you had to go through that. It sucks.
I knew someone who used to call J.C. Penny, Jacque Pene'.
And you're not middle-aged.
Post a Comment
<< Home