Tales From Retail: I Don’t Know Your Girlfriend.

This year was my first working at a large Box Store for Valentines Day. Prior to this, almost every retail job I worked was at the mall, in a store that only sold clothing. It made life pretty simple- If you’re coming into this store, you probably want clothes. 

But working at a Big Box store is SO different. People show up here with no idea what they want, and somehow that means it must be a good idea to ask ME. 

This all reached an unexpected peak in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. Suddenly, all these nervous young men were stopping me in the aisle, asking ME what THEY should buy THEIR girlfriend for Valentine’s Day. 

I think the assumption here was that, as a girl, I would know what all girls want for Valentine’s Day, and I need all young men out there to know that this is NOT THE CASE. 

Maybe your girlfriend likes flowers. Maybe she has a pollen allergy. Maybe she likes chocolate. Maybe she just wants a bag of hot Cheetos. For me personally, I don’t want a Valentine’s Day gift at all. I’d rather we just spend some quality time together. If you want to buy me something, wait a week until everything heart-shaped goes on sale and buy me some chocolate then. I’m Midwestern, nothing says “I love you” like a discount. 

The point is: I don’t know your girlfriend, and if you’re asking strange women in the Target what to buy for her, maybe you don’t really know her, too. 

So now I ask YOU, what would you get someone else’s girlfriend for Valentine’s Day?