The boy and I were at the mall. We had errands to run among the frenzies holiday shoppers..... :(
But, as we went along, we came across a Toys for Tots box. You know what? Judge me.... I don't care. But I always make sure that I put in two contributions. One for a boy and one for a girl. So, boy and I went to the mall's only toy store..... We picked up the obligatory doll for the "girl toy". Boy and I picked out a special toy for the "boy toy". A electric race track. Yeah, the one with the figure 8 track and the two race cars that sit on the slots and the wired "remote controls" that made the cars speed around the track. Boy got one for the holidays one year. It was his favorite thing EVER. He remembered how much joy it brought him and insisted that that would be the one we got for an anonymous little boy who would receive THIS toy. Fine. Done. The purchase came with a stuffed bear that we purchased for $4.99. Whatever. The funds went to a charitable organization for children.
We had to stop by a kiosk for him to exchange something that he bought by mistake. We were waiting behind a man who had brought his young daughter. The poor child was wailing away and crying. Not that I blamed her. The mall was crowded and he was doing shopping for his wife and, well, quite honestly, he was ill prepared to be dragging around a 4-ish year old child around the mall to shop for "boring stuff". Boy and I stood listening to this poor child screaming away out of boredom. UGh.... I reached into the bagful of goodies and yanked out the stupid bear. When the man wasn't looking, I gave the kid the bear and whispered to her that it was from Santa. It shut her up quick.
The guy, in his confusion of the sudden silence, saw his daughter clutching the bear and smiling. He looked at Boy and I. We quickly blamed some guy dressed like Santa Claus, and looked away. I gave the little girl a wink when her dad looked to see where the red suited perp went. She smiled back. All was well in her world. And she wasn't screaming any more. We got our shit done and we left after dropping off the rest of the goodies into the Toys for Tots box. YAY!
Did I get a warm and fuzzy feeling in my heart? Well..... kind of. I am hoping that those toys found some kid who otherwise wouldn't have scored some loot on what's supposed to be a kid's favorite toy getting holiday.... I mean, because THAT'S what it's all about.... At least to a little kid. What of the birth of some savior..... Yeah. I did my good deed. But bringing a little YAY to a poor child subjected to the stress of what the holidays are to adults? No. Call me evil, but I really did it just to shut the kid up. He never should have brought here there. She would have been happier at home, watching tv, eating junk food and playing with her OWN shit.
Fine.... I may have melted a little when she waved goodbye and blew us a kiss over her daddy's shoulder as he walked away. AND I may have had a little moment when I waved back and wished her a merry Christmas....... Shut up. Don't judge me. I still hate the holidays.
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