Ah, the holiday shopping season! It's not what it used to be. Most of us skip the usual level five insanity at the store or mall and just do our Christmas shopping online. It's easier, you can find the best price in seconds, and you don't have to worry about stomped on by some fat soccer mom (unless you're into that.) But while I shop online every year for Christmas, this year was different. I had just finished my online shopping and scored everything my friends & family were looking to unwrap this year when my mother started asking for a specific sweater she saw a supermodel wearing on Instagram.
I knew that was the gift for me to get. No matter how high or low I looked, however, I couldn't find it anywhere online. Amazon, Etsy, not even Macy's or Lord & Taylor had it in stock. Macy's said they wouldn't have it in stock until February - two months later. After almost two weeks of scouring the internet fort the sweater, I completely exhausted all my online resources. But I did have one ray of light: Lord & Taylor said they had a "limited supply" of the sweater in stock, not at their location in the mall closest to my house, but the location in the mall about a half-hour away.
Knowing my mother wanted that sweater more than anything else on her list, I made the bold decision to venture to the mall for it. And in a vow unto my own, I was not leaving the mall without the sweater. The day was November 29, Black Friday, and I was still feeling the food coma from the previous night's Thanksgiving dinner. My girlfriend said: "Stay in bed, you're in no shape to go out today," and my body was agreeing with her, but I already made a promise to myself and I'm a guy who always keeps his promises.
"I'm going out babe, I gotta get that sweater," I told my girl as she sat up in bed, "wouldn't you do the same for your mother?"
She knew she couldn't argue with that and wished me luck: "Just get back here in one piece," she said.
"I'll be back before you know it," I told her as I left. I started my Subaru SVX and made my way out of the garage, deadset on completing my little mission. The five-step plan I devised was simple: go into the mall, go into Lord & Taylor, ask for the sweater, pay for it, and get out of dodge before things got too insane; little did I know this plan would be anything like how I thought it would though. After a half-hour's drive, I pulled into the mall parking lot and took in the sight of a sea of cars in every parking spot. There could've been an open spot but I couldn't waste time looking for one; the last of those sweaters could've been bought & paid for by that time.
I drove past the gauntlet of family SUVs & minivans, and beat-up old Toyotas & Hondas and headed straight for the parking garage. While this mall wasn't my usual mall, I had been to it many times before and remembered there were always plenty of free spots on the top level of the parking garage. I pulled into the ground level of the garage and headed to the top; I felt like a street racing king in my SVX as I rounded the corners. Just as I thought, the top level was almost empty - only two Mercedes S classes were parked up there - so I took a spot close the stairs that led to the upper floor of the mall. Once inside, the gravity of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks... literally, a large guy bumped into me on his way out with his purchases; he frantically apologized and I said it was okay.