Attention . . . Shoppers?

I went to our Target yesterday afternoon, after school time, and it was empty. I've seen more people there on at Tuesday night around closing. Or on a Monday at opening. And it's always packed from 2:30 to the dinner hour every weekday. Don't embarrass me by asking why I know the shopping trends at my store so well. But it was one of the first tangible visual clues I've seen of the dire economic downturn (mind you, I did most of my Christmas shopping online). It was a ghostland.

And a wasteland. The store was trashed. It didn't look like they'd straightened or restocked since the last pre-Christmas dash. This is probaby also a sign of the downturn--I imagine they've let any extra holiday staff go, if there were any to begin with. But I was there, doing my part, spending $17. Cash. From our new envelope budget system. So far, so good. It won't help the economy much, though.