Saturday, December 12, 2009

Good gracious! Where has time gone?

I noticed that I haven't written in a while, so before I embark on the telling of all of my Christmas break adventures, I'd like to take a moment to recap everything that has happened since the fortuitous day I received my first car (and no, I have not wrecked it. Mercy is just peachy, thanks!)

The end of the semester is finally here, and I survived yet another semester of writing papers, doing service hours, taking tests and of course making loads of memories with my friends. I competed in my first taekwondo tournament (3rd place-forms, 1st place-sparring), tested for my blue belt and continued working at the Walgreens back home in FC.

And it was at Walgreens that I had one of the most profound experiences of the year. So allow me to use the rest of this post to share my story.

It all started when I got my work schedule for Thanksgiving break. The only shift they could offer me over the whole five days I was going to be home was Black Friday. Knowing that I needed the hours, I could do nothing but accept the shift and prepare myself to be at Walgreens when the doors opened at 7 a.m. My thoughts: "Oh snap."

For anyone who doesn't know, I am basically nocturnal, so waking up at 5:30 a.m. to get ready for work is a big deal! Amazingly enough, I made it to work on time, in spite of almost forgetting to pack my lunch and discovering an unexpected layer of frost on my windshield.

When I pulled into the parking lot, there were already people lined up outside the door waiting to get in. I knocked on the door, gained entrance, said hello to the store manager, clocked in and braced myself as I walked to the doors to admit the bargain-thirsty shoppers. My thoughts: "Please don't let them kill me!"

My day can be divided into two distinct parts and each of them, thank God, were completely different.

First, the sale. Top sellers included these large decorator candles on sale three for $9.99 and these little artificial potted pre-lit four-foot Christmas trees buy one, get one free. It was completely crazy. My thoughts: "Baby step to eleven o'clock, baby step to eleven o'clock."

My fifteen minute break never felt so good. Soon, though, I was back out at the cash register and ready for Round 2: the Santa. That's right, Walgreens invited a Santa to come in and take photos with the children for a couple of hours. This actually turned out to be a good thing, since for those two hours, every child in the store was on his or her best behavior. It was actually amazing. Never in my life have I been so thankful for a Santa Claus.

After Santa left, things calmed down and the melancholy that is a small-town Walgreens returned. I made my escape at 3:30 p.m., sore-footed and drained of all energy, but happy that I was a survivor.

The rest of the semester has been pretty tame compared to that one Friday, but I'm glad to have the experience! Glad it's over, though!