Convenience Whores

For those of you who may not have heard about the recent controversy involving Target's contributions to Tom Emmer's political campaign, please read this.

If you are familiar, please read on.

As a strong supporter of human rights, boycotting Target seemed like the least I could do in this situation. Sure, it was always fun getting Hello Kitty stickers for a dollar and the popcorn they sell in the snack shop is unbelievably salty and delicious, but my values will beat out a cat without a mouth and high sodium levels any day. After reading up on the situation, I called every member of my family to explain to them the implications of their shopping at this store. You may or may not know this, but my mother is a huge shopper. If the Target corporation were to suffer from losing any customer, she's probably the one. Even though I told my dad (although Best Buy applies more to him) and my sisters, it was the most important to get the message through to my mom. When I spoke to her, she seemed genuinely interested in staying away. Was I naive to believe that it would last?
Of course.
Fast forward a few weeks to today, when she called me from Walmart to ask if there was anything I wanted. I asked for a toaster oven, because I've got a soft spot for them. She called me a few minutes later, and tells me that she's having trouble finding a decent one. Now, as much as I happen to like them, toaster ovens aren't exactly an urgent matter so I assured her it wasn't of the greatest importance that I have one today. Still, about an hour later, she walked through the door exclaiming, "I got you a toaster oven!"
Anyone else would thank their mother and move on, but I couldn't help feeling as though I'd been wronged. The following scene went something like this:
Corinne: "Where did you buy it?"
Mom: "From the store."
C: "What store?"
M: "Walmart. I went to the Tricounty one."
C: "Show me the receipt."
M: "I don't even know where it is. Here, let's get the toaster out of the car."
(At this point, we walk out to the car. She opens the door, and the toaster oven is sitting in the back seat in a Walmart bag. Sitting next to it? Target brand laundry detergent. The conversation ended when I pointed this out to her, asked for the receipt and bought my own toaster oven online. Hello, Amazon Prime free shipping. My mom continued to try to justify her actions, including lying to me about where she bought it, by telling me that it was convenient.)
Convenience. I thought about this for a while, and wondered how much is actually done in the interest of what's easiest. How often is the right thing abandoned for the quick fix? Is it really more simple to do the easy thing and lie about it than it is just to stick to your values in the first place?

I'm taking back that toaster oven tomorrow.

-Corinne