The lure of after Christmas sales

I could feel the tug all day Saturday. Women understand that strange, wanderlust that comes over us twice a year, that persistent voice urging us to just take a quick look. I assume that some brilliant psychologist came up with the idea of Black Friday and Day-After Christmas sales. Whoever it was, he or she should be awarded some kind of prize, maybe the peace prize because as long as we women get to indulge on those two days of the year most homes exist for the rest of the year in sensible harmony. I was disappointed because I couldn't indulge in a Saturday orgy of shopping. I had to work. I worked all morning, all afternoon and late into the evening. I got home at ten o'clock.

Sunday swept by as I handed out skates, showed little kids how to move across the ice, fetched cones, swept the main entry, washed windows and all that good stuff, but Tanner is a unique individual. He doesn't question this right of passage. He instinctively understands the delicate balance that exists between Woman and Stores. After I got off of work, he took us out for Chinese food and then without a single hint from me, he pulled into the Target parking lot. Oh, the bliss, the wonder of wandering down aisles stacked with ill displayed items, sifting through piles of jumbled stockings, candies, ornaments and wreaths, wading through reams of mismatched tissue and wrapping paper. The whining of bored children wafted across the store like gentle background music. The pitter pattering of feet dashing down a long aisle was a mere whisper of wind as I rummaged through discounted Christmas cards and ribbons. As Tanner struggled to keep three little girls in order, I browsed, searched, gathered and discarded.

There were similar couples there sharing similar fates. Some of the men were resigned; some, the 40somethings, smiled and nodded knowingly; some were distracted; but we were all intrinsically bound together. Each hoping to find the best, the greatest prize of all: Deep Discounts.

After negotiating the check stand, loading the car and driving home, I pulled out our Christmas Boxes and carefully laid our latest possessions on soft pillows of crumpled newspapers. And so...our home will exist for another year in sensible harmony...until next Black Friday.