Christmas Eve part 2

… 6 hours later and I’m finally back from the shopping. Just as I figured, very few people waited till the last minute to do their shopping. I don’t have the nickname of Zotime for nothing. Anyway, I had made the list of all the stores and gifts that I needed to buy and headed out. I usually get my wife a big-ticket item and the first place I went to was closed on Sunday. I was going to buy her a day at the spa at some place called Utopia. What were these people thinking!!! Didn’t they know that it was Christmas Eve and there would be all kind of people shopping on the last day?

I was getting worried as this was my first choice of a gift for my wife, and I didn’t want her to open up her Christmas gift with a hand written note stating that this is what I’m going to get you… next week.

I took a deep breath and went to plan B. At least that is what I called it right after I made it. I typically buy my wife the “new” Steven King book and went to the local Costco to buy it as they usually have it. It wasn’t open yet so I killed the time by walking through Target’s. As I walked the isles, I remembered a gift that she has wanted for some time. I walked to the sporting goods isle and they had it. Unfortunately, I needed a pair and they only had one. Not to be dismayed, I went to Costco for the book and to see if they had the item I needed. They did have the book but not the big ticket item.

Three stores within 30 minutes and I had still struck out. I went across the street to another store to pick up a few little stocking stuffers and to see if they had it. No such luck, but they did have the stocking stuffers.

I drove out of the store still dismayed that I hadn’t found what I wanted to get her. I still had to shop for my nephew. He gave me a wish list and one of the items was a gift card from a tennis store that was on the other side of the metro area. I called them earlier in the day to see what their store hours were. At that time, I didn’t get an answer. I thought that by now (if they were open) that they should have answered. So I dialed the phone number on the cell and waited for an answer. The person who did pick up the call didn’t sound like he knew what I was talking about. As well as I didn’t have the right number. I apologized for disturbing him and called my wife to have her look up the number and call for me. She did and let me know that the store was open until 3pm only. Good… at least then, I would be able to get his stuff done. I stopped at a store kind of on the way to see if they had “the big ticket item.” No such luck even thought they claim that they have everything under the sun. Five stores and as U2 song played in the car radio, “I still haven’t found what I was looking for.”

I remembered that there was another Target’s on the way so I made a little detour and headed for it. I was in luck. They had three left. I grabbed two of them and headed for the check out lines. You would have thought that the lines would be horrible, but there were plenty of open lines… just walk right up and check out. Some one tried to wave me toward their checkout line, but I went to the very last one. There were these two girls chit chatting and they seemed to be bored. I walked up and greeted them with a smile and a “Merry Christmas.” One of them smiled back and asked me to step towards her line and she would be happy to help me. She asked how my day had been going and I responded that I was doing great and I hoped that she would be able to get home early enough for any Christmas Eve festivities. She said that she was leaving at five. I picked up one of the items looking for tag… no such luck. I picked up the other one… also no tag. She said not to worry and said that she would call the sporting goods department for a price check. Now honestly, I didn’t know exactly how much these things were, but they did have the smaller size on sale for $59.95 each. That may seem like a lot, but it was for my wife after all. She asked me if I knew how much they were, and I said I didn’t, but (I kidded to her) “as long as they were less then $1000 I would buy them.” She laughed and said not to worry, the sporting goods department was doing a price check and would call right back. I waited… she waited… we waited. I told her that they might be at least $60 each.

Finally, the call came back and she put the phone down and exclaimed that they were $9.95 each and was wondering if that was ok. I asked her if she was sure, she nodded. I babbled something like ahhh…ok… that’s fine then.

I paid and walk out the store and headed for my car. Is it wrong to thing that I just got away with something? I mean I didn’t know what the cost was, but I did make an effort with the $60 comment.

Now what? I was expecting to pay about $200 and wound up paying $20 for the “big
ticket item.” Do I just call it good? I was going to think about it as I headed out to pick up my nephews gift. I punched in the address in the GPS and drove off. I was there in record time. A trip that should have taken at least 45 minutes took only 30 as there was no traffic and everyone was speeding. I walked into the store and browsed a little hopping to find some “tennis” stuff that he might like. I have a real problem with buying a gift card. It’s as if… here you go, I put as little time and effort in buying you this gift. I can’t stand it. The downside of buying tennis gear for someone that is really into tennis is like having a layperson buy me a triathlon bike. I understood this, but I still hated not to at least come up with something to buy him. I eventually caved and picked up a gift card. At least they had a cool picture of a tennis scene on it.

I headed home and stopped at a Trek Bike Store… I had to. I looked at the latest model they had and spoke to the salesman about the upcoming models for next year. I’m not a big Trek fan, as I think that a big portion of the cost is the name and that Lance Armstrong rides Trek, but they still make a really nice bike, just expensive.

It was still early and I decided to head for the mall as I felt that my wife’s “big ticket” gift was in the grand scheme of things… not really a big-ticket gift.

Mall’s on Christmas Eve… now were talking! Here are the very few of us that get it. Men walking from point A to point B and buying… not shopping. I walked into a store and “shopped for a purse.” What is with you women? I can’t believe that you galls spend this kind of cash on a purse. After 10 minutes and several clerks coming over and asking me if I needed their help, I finally walked out of the store shaking my head. Even I can’t seem to understand why basically cloth and leather and not a huge amount of it can cost this much. Just because it says Prada, Coach, or Brighton, doesn’t mean that it is worth more. (See Trek above)

Ok… now I was sunk. I looked just like that lost among my gender. I walked around the mall like a Buck looking for a Doe, with the occasional lights from the stores shining into my eyes begging me to walk their way. I was lost and wandered from store to store looking for my “doe.” If I didn’t stop this soon, I was sure to be hit by one ruthless clerks hocking their wares. Just as I was about to be hit, I spotted the information desk, I picked up a map and formulated a plan. I was going to head out of this jungle without being picked off.

I noticed that there was a store that my wife frequents and headed for it. As I walked in, I was blindsided by a clerk asking if she could help… I muttered “bags.” She said that the purses were on the far wall. I pranced to the far wall a sighted a “purse” she might like. Jackpot. Not only was it a fraction of the name brands, but it was also on sale.

I walked out of the store feeling good about my score. I looked at the map and found a spa in the store. Halleluiah, just the thing that I was initially looking for and they were open. I got her a gift card and headed for the parking lot. I walked in the mall and even let myself be hoodwinked into buying her some Godiva chocolates where men were grazing over a cup of coffee. I made my last purchase. I got more then she wanted and spent less then I was going to.