Does everyone have a story like this? A story about a raggedly little boy on Christmas Eve? I've heard dozens and I'm not sure if they are written by the same people who write greeting cards or if armies of little urchins with a handful of coins desend upon shopping malls the night before Christmas. Maybe none of them are true, but this one is.
I was working in Things Remembered on Christmas Eve, with one other girl, Michele. It was almost closing and amazingly the mall was getting kinda quiet. We were counting down the minutes until closing when we could pull down the gate, count the drawer, do the closing paperwork, vaccum and turn off the lights. At T minus 17 minutes, a little boy, maybe 8 years old, kinda dirty, with a limp and sad looking santa hat came in. He walked right up to me and said, "Do you have anything for seven dollars and 31 cents?" he said hopefully, looking around at the pricey objects in the glass cases. "Let me think," I said, looking around with more optimism than I felt. As I scanned the shelves, he said, "My mother is the last person on my list, I saved her for last so I could use every last penny. I bought toys for my little sisters, but since my dad left there is no one to buy presents for my mom, so I want to get her something nice, like.................. oh, like that! Do....... do I have enough for that?" he pointed to a large red beaded candle with silk gift bag and engravable charm, retailing for $17.99 plus state and federal tax.
"Let me check."
I went to the register and starting using every discount code I knew. Michele, who was working at the engraver, leaned over my shoulder and made a few suggestions. That kid became a employee, a member of Triple A, and appearently made a wedding purchase of over $200, according to our computer. That brought it to $8.49. I looked at Michele and said, "I hope we don't get in trouble for this."
She said, "Well, if we're gonna get written up for this, we might as well do it loud and proud." She re-rang it and did a price overide to $5. "At least they can't say we were being sneaky about it."
The little boy had slipped unnoticed up closer to the register during this and startled us when he said, "I don't have enough, do I?"
"Yes, it's on sale!" we said in unison.
"Really?"
Yes, for five dollars and thirty-eight cents."
Michele hissed under her breath, "Find out his name and stall him!" as she slight-of-handed the charm off the bag and into the engraving machine.
I asked his name and he looked at me hesitantly. I said "It's for the recipt, I have to do it." He said, "Danny."
I stood there and pretended to be taking a long time to finish ringing it up as Michele engraved "To My Mom" on the front of the heart shaped charm. Then I used the best gift wrapping supplies in the store ("They are free on Christmas Eve, Danny, store policy.") to wrap it up after Michele slipped the charm with "Love Danny" on the back, back onto the silk bag.
Danny's eyes lit up and he said, "That's perfect, just what I wanted. Gotta go, my grandpa's waiting. Thanks!"
And we watched as Danny ran away, santa hat waving, with $32.99 worth of merchandise, love for his family, and the true meaning of Christmas, in his grubby little hands.
I was working in Things Remembered on Christmas Eve, with one other girl, Michele. It was almost closing and amazingly the mall was getting kinda quiet. We were counting down the minutes until closing when we could pull down the gate, count the drawer, do the closing paperwork, vaccum and turn off the lights. At T minus 17 minutes, a little boy, maybe 8 years old, kinda dirty, with a limp and sad looking santa hat came in. He walked right up to me and said, "Do you have anything for seven dollars and 31 cents?" he said hopefully, looking around at the pricey objects in the glass cases. "Let me think," I said, looking around with more optimism than I felt. As I scanned the shelves, he said, "My mother is the last person on my list, I saved her for last so I could use every last penny. I bought toys for my little sisters, but since my dad left there is no one to buy presents for my mom, so I want to get her something nice, like.................. oh, like that! Do....... do I have enough for that?" he pointed to a large red beaded candle with silk gift bag and engravable charm, retailing for $17.99 plus state and federal tax.
"Let me check."
I went to the register and starting using every discount code I knew. Michele, who was working at the engraver, leaned over my shoulder and made a few suggestions. That kid became a employee, a member of Triple A, and appearently made a wedding purchase of over $200, according to our computer. That brought it to $8.49. I looked at Michele and said, "I hope we don't get in trouble for this."
She said, "Well, if we're gonna get written up for this, we might as well do it loud and proud." She re-rang it and did a price overide to $5. "At least they can't say we were being sneaky about it."
The little boy had slipped unnoticed up closer to the register during this and startled us when he said, "I don't have enough, do I?"
"Yes, it's on sale!" we said in unison.
"Really?"
Yes, for five dollars and thirty-eight cents."
Michele hissed under her breath, "Find out his name and stall him!" as she slight-of-handed the charm off the bag and into the engraving machine.
I asked his name and he looked at me hesitantly. I said "It's for the recipt, I have to do it." He said, "Danny."
I stood there and pretended to be taking a long time to finish ringing it up as Michele engraved "To My Mom" on the front of the heart shaped charm. Then I used the best gift wrapping supplies in the store ("They are free on Christmas Eve, Danny, store policy.") to wrap it up after Michele slipped the charm with "Love Danny" on the back, back onto the silk bag.
Danny's eyes lit up and he said, "That's perfect, just what I wanted. Gotta go, my grandpa's waiting. Thanks!"
And we watched as Danny ran away, santa hat waving, with $32.99 worth of merchandise, love for his family, and the true meaning of Christmas, in his grubby little hands.
1 Comments:
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww bless. "If there's one thing that TV has taught me, it's that miracles happen to poor kids at Christmas." (Bart Simpson)
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