How Many...

How many Target employees does it take to find a lost child?

About nine.

Today, we got a call on our walkie talkies that there was a "code yellow," which in the red language means "There's a parent up here freaking out cuz they can't find their kid." It means everyone needs to stop what they're doing and fan out, looking for the child described-- in this case, a black-haired boy wearing an Incredibles shirt. But before the search really got going, Karen called over that she'd found him. Disappointed, we all went back to work, only to hear a few seconds later, "I can't catch him! He keeps zig-zagging through the store!" This went on for a few minutes, with Karen continuously on his tail, only to be duped as he turned a corner. Finally, I headed over to where she was-- stationary-- to see if I could cut him off. What I found was a little Mexican boy who had been corralled against the stationary wall by eight people in red and khaki, including an LOD and two ATL's (higher-ups). This kid was too cute. It was obvious he didn't speak English, because no matter what anybody said to him, he just looked up at them with this adorable smile. Mark, who was up at the checklanes with the mother, kept calling for someone to bring him over, only to be answered each time with, "He won't budge." Finally, Mark came over himself. All he had to say was, "C'mon, you're mother's up front," and kind of nod his head toward the checklanes, and the kid followed right along, leaving the nine of us just standing there looking at each other, wondering what the heck had just happened. Then, feeling like complete failures when it came to kids, we walked back to our areas and resumed work.

What we have learned from this:

1) It takes six Target employees, two ATLs, and two LOD's to reunite a lost kid with his mother.

2) Little Mexican children will just smile and nod at you no matter what you're saying.