"K'Mart Has a Loveable Disorder" by Hank Stuever

"K'Mart Has a Loveable Disorder" by Hank Stuever is an entertaining, and true account of the way that people in our generation know K'Mart. His description of what happens in one of the stores, just reminds me of what I have seen when I have to visit one. Where I currently live, K'Mart is the closest thing that I have to any department store within 40 minutes. I cringe when I think about walking into a K'Mart, it reminds me of a "ritzy trailor park", if that makes any sense what-so-ever.

I can walk into a K'Mart and see a parent berating their kid for something, and see that same kid five minutes later riding a skateboard around the aisles screaming wildly about how they don't need to go to the bathroom because they went at home (a true account, I assure you). Even after everything that has happened while in a K'Mart, there is some draw for everyone to go at one time or another.

Mr. Stuever states that "It (K'Mart) has lipstick on its teeth and those days where it feels, you know, not-so-fresh?" This is a statement that cracks me up. It is so true. When I don't feel like getting dressed up enough for Target or Wal-Mart (oh I know), I know that K'Mart will be there for me. If I don't want to brush my hair and wear ratty sweats and holy t-shirt, K'Mart and its patrons do not judge me. It has a classy "white trash" feel to it. You can buy stale popcorn from its food court, and Martha Stewart's latest cookbook (on sale of course) all from the same place. Crazy enough as it is, the cost of items at K'Mart is typically more expensive than I could find at Wal-Mart.

"We are but three similar and divided Americas: Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart.", says Hank Stuever. I am more of a Wal-Mart person myself, and I think I always will be. Like Mr. Stuever says, we like to think ourselves as a Target person, but most of us just aren't. We will always have a love/hate relationship with K'Mart, because there is a little part of us all that just wants to say "screw it" on some days.