During the winter of 1994, I was working at Marine World Africa USA, and the park was much slower than during the rest of the year, so I decided to pick up a second job. Across the freeway was a Target, where my friend Mark’s brother worked, so I applied and got hired in the electronics department. Across from my department was the music area, and it was great fun checking out all the music and building my own collection. 

That year, we received Mariah Carey’s newest album, and it was right up front, but it did not sell at all. In January, the CD was marked down to $3.93, so I bought one and loved the title song, but after that year, I would listen to it from time to time. Then, in 2017, it became a top 10 hit; in 2019, it reached number one; and in 2025, the song set a new record as the longest-running number one on the Hot 100, with multiple weeks at the top across different holiday seasons.