The Shopping Event of the Season

Around mid-December out whole family went out for a day of Christmas shopping.  Brik had $5 to spend from a birthday card that was burning a hole.  Layne had earned a handful of quarters from doing extra work and found a few pennies for a total of $1.27, which pretty much was engulfing him in flames.  With two die-hard savers for parents, these boys were itching to experience the other side.

Our first stop on the trek was to Power Square (formerly VF Factory) to the kitchen stores.  A man overheard Layne blubbering about what he could buy with his measly $1.27 and quarrelling with his brother to share some of his dough.  This man proceeded to had Layne a $10 bill and told him to split it with his brother.  Layne was all about to give Brik all of his money and keep the 10 for himself.  The man set him straight and the cashier split the money for them to share.

Brik spent most of his now $10 on a miniature cheese grater, measuring cup and a plastic straw with spoon.  As we walked between stores, Layne wanted to spend all of his money on stupid ride-on toys.  Luckily he only had two quarters and that is all they took.  He decided to hold out for toys which he found later at Big Lots a.k.a A Lot of Junk.  He took forever looking down every isle asking if he has enough for this or that.  Once he found what he was looking for (a complete piece of junk) his heart was set.  So, toy in hand, I told him to get out his money -- which he was explicitly told ,at least 5 times, to keep it in his pocket after seeing him transfer it between ever crack and crevice known to man. He looked up to me with guilty eyes and said it was under Roxwell’s seat.  Roxwell was sitting in a shopping cart and was brought in by dad, while I came in with my own cart with Layne and Brik, later met up with Jarom and ditched my cart.

Layne bent down and looked up under Roxwell and of course it wasn’t there.  TEARS.  We retraced out steps all over the store looking for an abandoned cart.  Layne was checking other customer’s carts as they strolled by.  Hopeless.  We made our way to the checkout counter.  A woman was standing there by a cart looking at the wrapping paper, I leaned down to take my first glance at someone’s cart.  There it was, folded and tucked in between the metal and plastic flap of the child seat was the $5 bill.  That is insane.

Layne got his stupid toy that didn’t even work and I had to return it the next week anyway.  We walked that returned $5 directly across the parking lot to the dollar store where he spent every bit of it.