A Letter to Target

Dear Target,
I love you with the passion of a red-hot sun through a magnifying glass. The only reason I'm not buying crap daily from your store is because I don't have a car to get there. I've purchased just about every type of item you sell at some point since you moved in to New England, and I don't have the huge pangs of guilt that I get from shopping at Wal-Mart because you don't sell only censored music/movies and you're *slightly* better at not selling sweatshop-produced goods.
I must take issue with your recent refusal to allow the Salvation Army to collect money outside your stores. It's the first example of corporate callousness on your part, and I sincerely hope you change your mind before I start shopping elsewhere.
The reason you gave for not allowing the bell-ringers to set up outside your stores is because you wanted to have a "corporate policy" towards solicitors. There is a big difference between having such a familiar and trusted charity such as the Salvation Army set up outside your stores for one month out of the year and one kid standing outside with an iced-tea mix container (that he/she most likely purchased from your store) basically pan-handling.
The bell-ringing gets annoying. But so do the endless Christmas carols you play in the store, the endless television ads you bombard me with when I turn on the television and the process of finding a parking place. The whole holiday season is annoying. But the bell-ringing acts as a trigger for your shopper's consciousness and makes them remember that Christmas isn't entirely about commercialism and buying affection. Christmas is also a time to treat your fellow human with a bit more decency than you do during the rest of the year. Many, many charities rely on the goodwill people show during the holidays to get them through the whole year. Prohibiting the Salvation Army from collecting at your stores makes it harder for them to help out disadvantaged people and shows your red and white Scrooge colors.
So I ask of you to forget "corporate policy" for the holidays and allow the bell-ringers to set up outside your stores. Even if people don't give money to the Salvation Army, they may give to charities in other ways after hearing the ringing bell, and go back into the store to buy a toy for a poor child, some canned goods for the food bank, or a coat for a clothes drive.

Thanks,
Amy