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Antonia,

Another WONDERFUL post. The short bit of bird chirping was calming. Your observation about Target, not so much. I imagine what you observed distresses each of us in DIFFERENT ways. It is hard to justify but depending on our POV we make some excuses (I'm busy; I'm important; staff picking up after me is part of my entitlement at Target, etc). I have read recently about a rural grocery in MN that operates unattended. A rural food desert. The response of the community is EVERYONE helps make it work. A great working definition of COMMUNITY. I think we were never meant to live so close to each other. In a rural community, it only works when everyone can count on each other. It is a 3-minute listen for those that are interested in renewing their faith in our shared humanity.

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/14/1111577588/a-rural-minnesota-self-serve-grocery-store-could-be-a-model-for-other-food-deser

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founding

I wondered about you out in the woods when all the hailstorms were pummeling everyone out here; I'm happy to know you survived. I would miss you if you hadn't. We – and our modest tomato crop – were lucky enough to avoid the drubbing.

That Target story is all too familiar, isn't it? More and more I've been trying my best to live by this simple directive from a Zen monastery in Hawaii:

"At Chozen-ji, we expect that every student train to live selflessly, putting others before themselves and taking responsibility for their community. But rather than ask students to take a Bodhisattva vow or otherwise stay only conceptual in this endeavor, we get delightfully gritty and practical: Serve others food before yourself. Do the dishes. Wipe the bathroom counter even if you're not the one who got it wet. If you see a weed, pull it."

It really is that simple, isn't it?

Target in Missoula is being remodeled. I've avoided it for weeks, which isn't difficult because I generally don't ever need to get anything there. But the stories I hear? And can you imagine being one of the understaffed workers there? Oof. Hellscape!

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That birdcall was absolutely lovely. I think we're going to try and capture the call to prayer at our mosque and add it to our next newsletter. So h/t to you!

As for Target, I noticed that the last time we were in the U.S. and I chalked it up to the store being woefully understaffed so that the normal amount of stuff just getting dropped instead of put back neatly just kept piling up until it reached a tipping point and even conscientious customers just gave up...

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