Sparkle On

So I’m not one to preach. I prefer to gently suggest. Well most of the time. With all the Black Friday sales happening, people shopping for the holidays and general craziness, there’s a few things I’ve noticed that I want to shine some light on.

I love a sale as much as the next guy, but after some of the crap that I noticed over this past weekend I can say for certain that I love me way too much to subject myself to the general public on days like this. People fighting over things in stores, yelling at each other in the parking lots, flipping the guy in front of you off on the road, for what? To save $10 on a pair of pants? Or a couple hundred bucks off a spanky new TV? Here’s the thing folks. If this sale is the deciding factor on whether or not you can afford said fancy new item, I’m willing to bet you likely shouldn’t be buying it. I’m not here to judge anyone on their spending habits, but the stress people are willing to endure is nuts.

I dropped my daughter off at her dance rehearsal on Sunday and headed to a nearby mall to do some Christmas shopping for my nieces and nephews. I was questioning my sanity as I pulled into the parking lot and saw the sea of cars, but managed to reason with myself enough to get my butt through the doors. When I walked inside, it didn’t seem too crazy. I could hear Christmas music playing, lights were twinkling and Santa was ho-ho-hoing up a storm as I walked past the mall’s North Pole zone. Alright, alright, I thought. Let’s do this!

I wandered through a few shops, chatting with people, enjoying the seemingly festive atmosphere. I pride myself on being a pretty cool aunt so I had to find some equally cool stuff that the kiddies were going to love. Everyone in my universe knows about my love for Disney so I headed to the Disney Store because they just know how to do it there. What I neglected to take into account was that it was the Black Friday weekend and they had a massive sale happening. I walked through the magical entrance and just stopped. Chaos. Pure and utter chaos was swirling around. Kids crying, parents yelling, frenzied employees running about, all while Christmas carols were playing softly from the strategically placed speakers. I must have looked a little stunned as my brain tried to make sense of what my eyes were seeing and ears were hearing because one of the cast members came rushing over to see if I needed any help. I smiled, said I knew my way around and was just browsing. She forced a smile, wished me a magical day and hurried off to wherever she was needed next.

I puttered around the store, checking all the neat toys they had, pushing buttons, listening to the music some played. I ran my hands over the princess dresses (le sigh, they should make those in adult sizes), squeezed some of the adorable stuffies and got lost in my own little world for a bit. I found a couple of things that I knew would make the wee ones shriek with delight (point for auntie). As I was making my way to the register, I had to stop and check out the Star Wars stuff because holy crap some of it was so cool. Toys have come a looooooong way in recent years! There was a little girl in a stroller next to me and we were making faces at each other and giggling. She dropped the toy she was holding so I bent down to pick it up for her and as I was handing it back, the parent turned around and totally lost it. As the toy was ripped out of my hands, said parent accused me of taking the toy from the little girl, telling me that if I had wanted one so badly then I should have gotten to the store earlier to get my own and that I should be completely ashamed of myself for trying to steal a toy from a child. I stood there, eyebrows raised as this person continued to berate me about what an awful human being I must be to be willing to even consider doing what I had done. By this point, people were turning to stare, but I just stood there politely, keeping my mouth shut. Clearly this parent had hit a breaking point and I don’t know what else they were dealing with, but they needed an outlet for whatever had brought them to this point.

Now I know a few of you out there must think I am totally certifiable for just letting that person go to town. Let me ask you something: would it have done even a tiny bit of good if I had started yelling right back? No. Would it have made me feel better? No because children cry when I yell and few things are more heart wrenching than a little one with tears in their eyes. Would it have solved the problem? No. This person was a ticking time bomb and I just happened to be in front of them when the timer hit zero. And, in case you’re wondering, no it didn’t matter to me what other people were thinking. The stares and not-so-quiet whispers said plenty.

When the parent had finally run out of steam and had paused to take a breath, I quietly asked, “Is there anything else you need to get off your chest?” They looked at me, confused. I took the toy from their hands, smiled and gave it back to the little girl who sneezed first and then smiled at me. I leaned in so only that person could hear what I was about to softly say.

“Your daughter and I were making faces at each other and giggling and she dropped her toy. I bent down to pick it up for her when you interrupted. I’m a mom too, 3 kids actually, with some nieces and nephews who absolutely adore Star Wars which is what brought me over here in the first place. I know how hard it can be to find the perfect item for our little ones and I wanted to make sure she didn’t lose what she had picked out. I hope the rest of your day is fantastic. Good luck with your shopping and Merry Christmas to you and your family.” I gave them both a little wink and, as her face went from angry red to embarrassed white, I walked away.

I found the last item I was looking for and I made my way to the cash register, paid for my things and left the store with a smile on my face. Yes people were still staring, but it didn’t affect my swagger in the slightest. I always tell my kids that if you can’t find a good person then it’s up to you to be one so I decided to take my own advice.

Our world has enough anger, hatred and negativity. In that moment, I made the decision that it would end with me. Sure I could have reacted how most people would have, but what good would that have done? It would have just ruined a perfectly lovely afternoon for both of us. And the way I see it, that person needed my light and love more than they needed my sharp tongue and hard words.

We don’t know what someone else is carrying around in their bag of life, just like they don’t know what baggage we choose to haul around on our journey. Today’s life lesson is to continue to sparkle, even in the dark moments. And sprinkle that shit around like confetti. Both you and your world will be better for it.