Christmas Fruits

This story is by my neighbor, Betty who I helped with her Christmas shopping last year:

I used to think online shopping was for workaholics. To me workaholics are people who would rather sit at a desk and work than see their families. In my opinion, gifts should be bought after careful consideration. I go to every store there is for the item I want to buy. I interview the sales person, sometimes I even ask fellow shoppers for their opinion. You can just imagine how important it is for me to find the perfect gift for everyone. And for years I thought the perfect gift could only be found after many long visits and tours of every shopping center that fell within an hour’s drive. I was mistaken. I came to realize the reality behind online shopping this year.

I’m a substitute teacher at the local elementary. I work a few hours a week but this winter, one of the teachers went on maternity leave and I was called in for an extended period of time. I was working the whole week and my hours were longer too. Add to that the fact that I have three kids all under twelve, and I found myself behind in my Christmas shopping. I was late with dinner most nights and the laundry was piling up. I suddenly realized how wrong my definition of workaholics had been. Here I was, sitting late at night checking notebooks while my kids didn’t have someone to tuck them in. I would easily have traded work to be with them but that wasn’t an option.

So after a stressful month like this during which I got no shopping done, I went to see my neighbor. She had been a career woman since day one. She had two little kids of her own and yet the Christmas gifts we got from her were always wonderful. She was just as dedicated to her family as she was with work and I wondered how she did it. The answer was online shopping.

I didn’t believe her at first. It seemed impossible that her gifts could actually be the result of the ‘internet’. It took her two hours to convince me to try it and I did. Since I was new at the online shopping thing and very behind in my Christmas shopping she told me not to waste time browsing and directed me to some of her favorite sites. Her picks were excellent particularly this one site about unique Christmas gifts.

I liked their suggestion about fruit baskets for Christmas. The baskets they featured weren’t the usual wicker baskets with fruit in them. They were these arrangements of fruits cut and arranged in to flowers. They were assembled in special ceramic containers shaped like a snowman or a sleigh. I loved them. They became my favorite in seconds. As I began sending them out to everyone who lived out of state I found myself receiving thank you notes. I had never gotten any thank you notes before when I shopped till my feet were sore. It felt wonderful to know my gifts had brought so much joy. I have kept every single thank you note in an antic jewelry box. I proudly admit that I shop online.