Nevertheless, I hate going to Columbia Heights. It's a journey that requires two trains, a transfer at Gallery Place/Chinatown (ghetto-sketch), a ride on the Yellow or Green Line (su-spect), and passage through some less than desirable parts of Northeast DC. Plus, whenever I go there the train cars are filled with loud, obnoxious youths. I hate youths on public transportation.
Columbia Heights is still being 'gentrified'. Ha! Whatever. People are still being shot there. Even though all of the 'right' stores have moved in and a few expensive condo buildings are up, it's still just ugly, u-gly. When I walked out of the station today I thought I was in the slums of Guadalajara (Can I say that? I'm brown, so I think it's Kosher). Picture the scene -Trashy street vendors, grown men hanging out on all the corners, children running all over the place, homeless people (bless them) surrounding the Metro escalators and shaking dirty cups at you...admittedly, it's never been this bad before, but it makes me wonder if the older undercurrent of the neighborhood is winning the battle against the Starbucks and the Bed, Bath and Beyond vibe.
Anyhow...to motivate myself to do something that I needed to do, I promised myself some kind of treat from the Target cafe.
Aaah! I hate this town!
They were out of...
- Pretzels, all flavors
- Icees, all flavors
- Smoothies, all flavors
- Large drink cups
- Cup lids, all sizes
- Napkins
What happened, was there a riot last night that led to the looting of the Target cafe?
The eating area was a mess. There was trash on all of the tables, the catching tray underneath the soda fountains was almost overflowing, and there was a general layer of filth on all of the surfaces. This would never happen at Super Target in suburbia. Or, maybe it would, but the manager and all of the cafe employees probably wouldn't have the 'Kiss my behind' attitude that is par for the course when it comes to customer service in this town.
I am convinced now, more than ever, that anyone who says that they love living here either: a) is an intern b) has a car c) really lives in Virginia d) thinks there's nothing wrong with paying at least $4 for a cheap loaf of bread e) has parents who are still funding part or all of their lifestyle.
Calgon, get me out of here.
On the way back I took the train to Gallery Place, and caught a cab for the rest of the journey home.
2 comments:
What a hassle and all-together unpleasant experience! A visit to Target should be enjoyable on so many levels, so this sounds grim.
I've been to D.C. several times and was always disturbed by the number of homeless people trolling around. I frequently felt like I was being begged-from at every turn, I hated it!
The fact that Target was involved in this scenario is just sad on so many levels. I think any city is different based on whether or not you have a car, where you live, etc.
I was unaware of the attitude with regards to customer service. A pet peeve!
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