An errand (or five) before Christmas
My cell phone decided that now would be a good time to die.
Ok, so maybe it wasn’t dead exactly but it did stop receiving calls. I could make calls, receive and send texts, but when anyone would call me they’d get a strange sound that didn’t sound like a busy signal or a dial tone. It was, well, pretty indescribable with words, so I won’t bother.
My husband told me about it. He mentioned his sister couldn’t get hold of me either. And then a colleague emailed and said, ‘Is this still your number? I keep getting a weird noise when I try to call you.’
I’ll be honest. I didn’t care if I was out of reach. People could text me. Who really needed to talk to me anyway? I figured I’d deal with it after Christmas. Between work and preparing for the holidays I just didn’t have the patience to research new cell phones. I could manage for a few weeks.
Procrastinators, unite!
Apparently my husband had enough and decided to give me an early Christmas present- a new phone! So now, not only could I receive calls but I’d be able to engage those ridiculous QR codes everyone appears to be so obsessed with.
Did I mention my phone was so old it might have been barely a step beyond a carrier pigeon? Um, yeah…
So, after dropping my daughter off at work, I figured I’d stop at the store and grab the remaining ingredients for a few recipes, and at some point in my travels, I’d even get a cell phone case because I could not imagine dropping and breaking this thing before I even had a chance to enjoy it.
First stop- cell phone cases blocked by shoppers. Finally look and take one (begrudgingly) that I do not like at all, and eventually put it back, hoping to do better at the next store. Also, this stop did not have those goofy little garlic toast things that are delicious in my Chex mix. Sigh.
Second stop? Their cell phone cases were completely overpriced compared to what I’d seen and liked online. Also, even with the help of a kind associate, there were no yummy garlic toast cracker-things either. Strike two. (But I have to stop and say, that young man who was stocking shelves and stopped just to ask if he could help me was wonderful. His pleasant attitude and sweet disposition made my day.)
By the third stop I’d given up on the cell phone case, deciding to just get it online. Now, I only wanted those garlic toast things because I wanted to make Chex mix.
Success!! But at $4.59 per tiny bag I was not happy. I grabbed two anyway for fear there wouldn’t be any later if I needed them.
I headed to the front of the store to find three long lines and a fourth- the express line- just as long as the rest. I chose a line and waited. Finally a kind cashier waved me over to a new line and I got out of there before the people in the express line that I would have been behind even got through their line.
Despite the gloomy dark sky and rain that didn’t seem to want to quit, this day was looking up.
I hustled outside with my bag and was smiling as I thought how glad I was to have found the ingredient I needed, and a fast line that would get me home sooner. As I dodged the rain, I caught the eye of a sweet elderly woman in a Christmas shirt, huddling under her umbrella, but smiling as she looked at me.
That precious moment and the time spent talking to the young sales associate, reminded me that even if the rain lasted all day and the chaos of the season was tempting me to forget what was really important, I could choose to slow down and smile and wish others well. I feel good about my day and the brief but encouraging interactions with others.
I hope you can notice and enjoy some sweet special moments in your day too.
As I think about it, I realized the reason these ‘little’ things meant so much to me. After several years of unpredictability and chaos, something as normal as a shared look with a stranger, or a nice conversation in a store, is new again. And now, I’d argue, these things are even more precious than ever.
May we never again take them for granted.
What precious moments have you experienced as we draw closer to Christmas? Share them in the comments below- maybe they will encourage or inspire someone.
Merry Christmas, friends!
