Every single time I enter the Target at Barclay’s Center, I have to brace myself. There might be an item I can’t find. If this should occur, I won’t have anyone to help me. You see, each and every time I’ve tried to find someone who actually works at this Target location to help me…there is no one wearing a red shirt in sight. In fact, I have mistakenly asked people who were shopping at Target, who were wearing red shirts, to help me find the Soft Soap or a pair of earrings.

Today, my friend Erin was visiting New York from Canada. We went to Target on a mission. We were seeking postcards. For some reason, none of the local stores in my neighborhood had any postcards. It was bizarre, but I was convinced that Target had the answer to our postcard shortage.

We entered the Brooklyn Target in the Atlantic Center mall and immediately I spotted a man in a red shirt. As soon as he turned around, I recognized him from a previous encounter we’d had. The other day, I bought my six year old, Ari, a giant Lego set. As we were checking out at the register, the cashier let me know that with the purchase of this particular Lego set, we were entitled to a FREE Lego item! The cashier called for a manager. A man with a kind smile approached the register. His name was Christopher.

“Hi, I’ll go check upstairs to see if we can get you that Lego set, you wait here okay?” He said kindly to my eager six year old.

After five minutes he returned with a selection of Lego boxes.

“Well, it looks like we’re sold out of the item in question. BUT, you can pick any of these you want!” Christopher said pointing to the array of Lego sets. Ari was thrilled. I was taken aback by this man’s generosity and perseverance on behalf of me (his customer).

Fast forward to today:

I recognized Christopher from our Lego encounter.

“Oh hi Christopher! I remember you! You helped my son and I with that free Lego set, remember?”

“Oh yeah!” He said with a wide smile.

“Thank you so much. You know, every time I come into this Target I can never find anyone to help me. You really helped me.” I told him honestly.

“Thank you. I really appreciate that.” He said. “We’re trying to change that here.” He replied meeting my eyes.

“My friend and I came here looking for postcards.” I said “Do you have any?”

“You know, we don’t. But, there is a store on Atlantic Avenue that has them, right next to Dunkin Donuts.” He said with that kind smile again.

I thanked him and Erin and I made our way out of Target to find our postcards. Even though Target didn’t have what we needed, I was grateful to Christopher for his kindness and determination to be there for me as a customer. I will never forget him.

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