My Other Job and All The People.

I really liked working at Target. It is a great company to work for and an even better store to shop at! They do a lot of great things and are supportive of local groups. Having to rush from subbing to Target and then getting home late at night wasn’t ideal, but as strange as it may seem, Supertarget was my one constant. I knew two weeks in advance what my schedule would be. I generally worked with the same people. I knew what was expected of me. Plus, I would get asked to do special tasks such as condense seasonal items, which I loved because I got to organize!

I genuinely liked my co-workers and they made me feel like they were happy to see me. The unfortunate thing was there were some people you’d get to know pretty well working quite a few hours together, and then you’d find out they quit or sometimes were let go and you didn’t even get to say good-bye. I find people interesting and it was neat to observe how shoppers interacted with the people they came with as well as other shoppers. Also, it was interesting to observe how team members interacted with shoppers and each other. It was intriguing to watch. I have always loved to observe people. It started when I was young. I noticed very early how people really enjoy talking about themselves. (I am not saying this is a bad thing. I am more reserved and although I wear my heart on my sleeve, I am not an open book. This may seem contradictory! People can tell from my body language if I am hurt or sad, as well if I am touched or glad. However, I rarely voice my opinion.) I noticed this again with my co-workers at Target. I really enjoyed listening to them. Plus, it made ‘zoning’, which is straightening and pulling the items forward on the shelves, go so much faster!

I did make a few pretty good friends. I guess one would say they were strictly work friends, because we didn’t talk much outside. I looked forward to seeing them at work and a couple of people asked for my phone number which I tried very hard to avoid giving! Here is a snippet of just a few of the many people I met:

There was a guy who was in my same situation. His wife was in law school and he worked full-time at Target. They were from North Dakota, too and he liked to hunt so we had those things to talk about. Another guy was dating a girl from North Dakota, so we had that in common and he and I just joked around about nothing in particular, which was fun, but he could be moody! Another college boy and I loved to talk about clothes and TV shows! He was awesome, but rarely showed up and was let go. Another guy only worked on the weekends. His dad was a pilot for Delta and he told me about the places he had traveled, his love for snowboarding, and his on-again-off-again relationship with his girlfriend. I also really got along well with all the executives. There were three in particular, they all told me that they thought I was awesome, but couldn’t talk to me too touch on a friend level because the execs couldn’t be friends with team members. They all tried to encourage me to consider applying to be an exec for Target. They said I would make way more money than teaching. I love teaching too much. One exec, Erin, had a few things in common with me. One is our love to run and the other is our love for the fabulous Kelly Ripa. 🙂 One girl named Sara was a college student and she had a great work ethic. She liked to talk about boys and I listened. We were put together to do a lot of projects and we did talk about how much we both loved Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as we were zoning or condensing seasonal candy! The execs would often give us candy at team huddles, which occurred every night. If Sara or I picked, it was usually peanut butter cups. Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies are one of my favorite cookies, because they are just the opposite of peanut butter cups! The peanut butter is on the outside and the chocolate is in the middle and they are oh so good!

Peanut Blossom Cookies

Preheat oven: 375 degrees – Bake: 8 minutes + 4 minutes – Prep Time: 60 minutes – Makes: 35 to 40

1 cup shortening

1 cup white sugar + a scant 1/4 cup

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons salt

2 2/3 cup flour

40 Hershey Kisses

Mix shortening (I use Crisco), sugars, and peanut butter together. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla and mix well. Next, add the salt and then the flour. Put the 1/4 cup sugar on a small plate. Also, unwrap the Hershey Kisses and put them on a plate so they are ready to be added to the cookies. Form cookies into balls. Roll in sugar. I fit 15 on a cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Take out and put a chocolate kiss in the center. Return the cookie sheet back to the oven and bake another 4 minutes. (Watch this. It could be a minute less or more.) Place cookies on a cookie rack or on wax paper that is on top of a white dish towel.

These are better than Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in my opinion, and I love a good peanut butter cup! These are the one cookies I make pretty small. They are still bigger than most people’s. Since they are smaller, I eat two to three at a time. If you have self-control, congrats to you! 🙂