As any book lover will tell you, it’s a special moment when the package you’ve been waiting for finally arrives, meaning you can at last dive into your next reading obsession. Ripping open the box only to find another book inside would be a blow at the best of times, but it becomes unconscionably cruel when your queer-themed novels get swapped out for the Bible.
Believe it or not, that’s exactly what happened to TikTok user @fooddaddy11. The Target customer announced that they had ordered two fantasy novels from the store, but when the parcel arrived all it contained was a copy of the Bible. Just in case you’re wondering if this could be some weird glitch, that possibility is ruled out by the TikToker themselves. It turns out they used to be a Target employee, and they know full well how many hoops you’d have to get through to send someone the wrong items.
“What I received in the mail was very disheartening and should never happen to anybody,” announces the clearly emotional customer in their video. Knowing that it’s impossible for this to occur by accident, they declared that the employee behind this switch “went out of their way to deliberately bring out the two books that I wanted, to put them to the side, and to put this in instead.”
“This was purposefully done,” the TikToker stressed, before swallowing their emotions enough to offer some words to the one responsible: “To the person who thought this was funny to do, it’s actually not funny.”
Tragically, others in the comments have revealed that a similar thing has happened to them, albeit it not from Target. Someone revealed that they had ordered “two queer studies books” for class and instead they received “a letter from a woman about finding my way.” Another explained that the author’s copy of their own book turned up with a different book under the dust jacket and a Bible placed on top of it. Some, meanwhile, cannot believe that this sort of thing happens. “I had to pick my jaw up off the floor,” one comment reads. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
The sheer premeditated vindictiveness of the Target employee responsible is staggering. Especially as the books in question are fantasy novels that just happen to feature queer characters and themes — the employee must’ve been familiar with the books beforehand or maybe even sampled the books to discover this about them. As the TikToker notes, it’s possible this employee has done this before, so hopefully something can be done with they contact Target corporate.
In the meantime, the best way to get back at this bigoted book-handler is surely to encourage you all to buy the novels in question. One of the books fooddaddy11 ordered was Bookshops and Bonedust, the prequel to the best-selling Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree, a cozy comic fantasy that’s basically Dungeons and Dragons meets You’ve Got Mail. The other was The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, the first chapter in an epic fantasy trilogy with a dark, political bent that’s based on mid-20 century China. You’re welcome.
As for the Target employee, maybe they should read those copies they purloined for themselves. Who knows, they might actually enjoy them and expand their worldview a little.