Clinically Insane?

Chalk it up to pre-surgery crazy, but after dinner yesterday I went out. Mere hours prior to this ridiculous decision I was making fun of the very idea. My mom left her Thursday paper and after dinner I started perusing the ads. Two things jumped out at me: 1/2 price Christmas dresses and a toy I didn't know existed. A toy that would blow Riley's little mind. I debated about 20mins and then I dragged my tired bones to the car.

I went to the toy store first even though I'd sworn not to shop there anymore. The doors had opened 15min before and at that price the toy was probably gone. I knew it was a bad plan. There wasn't a parking space to be had. It was a parking lot for several stores and not a single space. That wasn't the worst part though, there was a line, in the cold, spanning the store front and continuing around the corner. No freaking way I was waiting in line outside for one toy that was probably gone anyway.

I thought about going home at that point, but resolved to drive by the second store since it was a little less likely to have a line out the door. It was crowded too, but now it was 30min after the doors opened and there was no line out the door. I did notice lots of folks leaving empty handed and I wasn't sure if that was an omen of a second failure.

I was very disoriented between the heat and the massive lines dissecting a store. I wasn't familiar with the layout to begin with. It would have been silly to shop this store on my crutches on regular day, but this was beyond dumb. What was I thinking? Some nice ladies pointed me in the correct direction. I thought the shoppers were being very pleasant to each other, but maybe that's because I came after the initial rush. The kids clothes section was almost deserted, thank goodness. It was just as I snagged the exact dress I was after that I realized I had to pee.

I limped over to toys with my two items, but it was picked clean (of course). I got in line to check out somewhere near the back of the store. The heat and my full bladder were much harder to bare standing still. Now I understood all the empty handed people leaving the store.I actually thought "This is why disabled people don't do this."

As I stood there fighting with myself about whether to stay or go. The lady behind me went to check and make sure we were in the right line. When she came back she brought a manager with her who asked me if I'd like to come up to customer service to check out.

It was still a bit of a wait, but I was so grateful for the reprieve. I was happy to have gotten Miss Roo's brand new beautiful Christmas dress for the same price as I normally pay at my favorite consignment store. I also scored Christmas Eve jammies for big brother. I was exhausted when I got home.

Never EVER again. It was awful for the same reason I never liked pinatas as a kid. I'm too slow for that nonsense.