Re-tales of Retail: Updike

In some ways, it was hard for me to read this story in an interpretive way, looking for deep meanings or whatever, simply because it coincides so much with my own experience working at Target.

I know well the “cash-register-watchers,” who are up in arms the immediate second you double-scan an item, or, God forbid, miss a coupon. 99% of the time I am well aware that I have double-scanned the item. Every scan produces a beeping sound; therefore, if I hear 2 beeping sounds while holding only 1 item, I know I’ve double-scanned the item without even having to look at the screen or you having to tell me. I know the economy is tight and every penny is important, but geez!!! Some guests in our store act like I got out of bed with the express purpose of screwing them over somehow.

Sammy acts out the dream of every retail employee EVER, which is to flat out quit based on the principle of the matter. That was wrong, and I’m done. Granted Sammy’s hormones undoubtedly played a role, too, in his decision, but I think he knew he didn’t really have a shot with the girls. Thus, he is left standing on principle – a noble, yet terrifying place to be. In today’s recession especially, we retail workers can’t really afford to take such stands anymore. Target (or insert other store name here) pretty much has its way with you.

Lastly, to end on a more literary note. I made a comparison to the end of Philip Roth’s novel Goodbye, Columbus. In it, the protagonist, Neil Klugman, who has actually just ended a romance strained by socioeconomic differences, stares through glass into a library in the town he’s visiting, where he spies a stack of ‘imperfectly shelved’ books. Then, he chooses to go back to his own town and his job as a library clerk, leaving the taste of the rich life and his wealthy ex-girlfriend behind. In A&P, it’s almost exactly reversed. Sammy has the hope at least of getting with some rich girls, defending their honor in the only way he can. He leaves his job, embracing uncertainty, and then stares through the glass to look at his former boss. One wonders, however, if in a year he will be returning to this same job? I sure hope he fares better than Neil, but I guess we won’t know. Too bad Updike never pulled a Kevin Smith and wrote A&P II.