Even on a good day shopping is not my favorite pasttime and the craziness during last year’s Black Friday was the worst. But nevertheless my daughter and I headed downtown on Friday at 5:30 AM…she just to have a certain item for my grandson but instead of going to a big name store, we drove to a little hole-in-the-wall store that had a tiny ad for it in the Shoppers Guide. I think everyone in Naperville, IL had the same idea….why fight crowds at Wal-Mart when we could buy at a store that practically no one knew about…..Wrong!

After standing in the cold and foggy parking lot and being elbowed by some not-so-nice shoppers (who obviously did not have their morning coffee) we were able to buy the thing (I don’t even remember what it was), trudged through the parking lot, packed it in the car trunk, and prepared to leave.

Hello….there was a man with an over-loaded shopping cart standing behind our car….I waited for him to move….he didn’t. Actually he's lucky I didn't back over him since I didn't notice him as I prepared to put the car into reverse. He just stood there … we could see each other through the rear window. Finally I opened the car door and asked “can I help you?” We were parked in a “senior citizen” parking spot and although I am 73, I thought maybe he was going to say something about “this parking place is for people over 65” Yaaaaa doggies…..maybe I can pass for under 65!

He stared at me for a few seconds and said “I think I’m at the wrong car!” He was a store employee and was supposed to be helping someone take packages to their car…..with the shopping frenzy going on and the early morning fog, he lost sight of her on the way to her car…..when saw us getting into our car he thought “ah, there she is!”

Later, all I could think of was “buddy, be thankful that we are honest people otherwise my grandson would have had the best Christmas ever !!”