To Fitting Room Attendants Past and Present...

    What kind of security breach does taking a cart into the fitting room cause? Here's why I ask:

     I ventured out in the snow with my husband's truck that needs new tires. Essentially, it's just a vehicle on four sleds instead of tires and has to be put into four-wheel drive even in the slightest bit of snow. Why? To rescue a great sweater that I left behind on Black Friday at Target. I had spent enough money that day, so I decided to wait and break it up. Though now I realize that it's only been about four days, so what difference does it make? Wait, it was $2.00 cheaper. THAT'S why I got out with my two young children today?! 

     Let's get back on track. 

     I loved that sweater, so I went back today and picked out two or three colors, just in case, and started toward to the fitting room. Kami was in the small child holder, sort of like a cup holder, but for my kid, and AJ was running a zig-zag pattern next to me and causing my blood pressure to rise every few seconds. 

    Also, I am not a cold weather person. Not in the slightest. I get irritated by the time I bundle them up, pack my bag, grab the keys, get the Dodge Ram Sleigh Edition out of the garage, load Kami, load AJ, and then realize that I've forgotten my purse before I can finally mush out of the driveway. 

    By the time I get to the store, get the kids out in the 24 degree weather, get a cart and find the sweater, the last thing I want is to hear the fitting room attendant tell me, "I'm sorry ma'am, you can't take the cart in." Just because that's the last thing I wanted to hear, doesn't mean that isn't exactly what the woman said to me. Because she did. 

    I've been to Target before. I have tried on clothes at Target before. I have also been allowed by an attendant, many times, to take the cart with me. It is very helpful in containing two feral kids when I simply want to try on said sweater and reassure it, "Yes, today you are coming home with me." So, I told her so. The FRA (Fitting Room Attendant), not the sweater. She said that she was sorry, but she wasn't able to allow it because of security reasons. I stood there, overwhelmed and gave her the number she had already given me along with the items I had so eagerly retrieved. This my friends, is called: Cutting your nose off to spite your face. Yeah, I did it. That's my M.O.

    Here's my question: What am I going to do with my cart in the fitting room that is a security concern? I'm not going to shove the cart under my coat or in my purse. What do I want with a cart, anyway? The cart is see-through. What am I going to smuggle out? The only things I'm coming out with are the things I took in to begin with. Can someone fill me in? I'm just a little lost and maybe the answer is something very simple that is staring me in the face, but I'd like to be let in on this. 

    If you're wondering about the fate of the sweater, I toured the shoes, calmed down a bit, and realized that if I left without the sweater I had come for, I would have done all of this for no stinking reason at all. 

     I went back to the FRA, tail between my legs, and told her that I was going to give it a try.  I said that I was sorry, and that I get a little . . . (insert "loopy" gesture). She smiled and handed me my number as I gave up my cart and headed to the first stall. Kami instantly began digging in my purse and AJ started scaling and jumping off the bench. As I suspected, I did still love the sweater and I was going to make it mine. I gathered up all the contents of my purse, made sure I had everything, and walked out to give the FRA her number back . . . only to discover that my cart was missing. 

    ARE YOU SERIOUS? 

    I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell, "Do you see what happened?"  

    Before I could do that, I saw the woman whom I suspected to be the cart-burglarizing culprit going to get her number for the fitting room. I overheard her being told, "I'm sorry ma'am, but you can't take in your cart." I may have smiled a little.

    I headed toward the front, struggling to carry a squirmy Kami and trying to keep zig-zagging AJ within arm's reach, but with the intended sweater in hand so I could give it a good home.