Shopping for someone else — Mission Impossible

Just Passing Through

Black Friday came and went. Cyber Monday flashed by in digital fashion. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t have a list and if I had, it would have been Thursday before I had time to check it twice. I don’t even know who is on my list, much less whether they’ve been good enough to merit my standing in line, staying up late, plodding through hours on the internet looking for the best price, and — horror of horrors, trying to remember the password for Overstock.com.

I know, it’s easy to change the password, but for some sites on the shopping-net, I’ve used all my relatives’ names, their addresses and one long sentence that describes the eleven hours of labor for my second baby. There is no way that I can keep up with passwords without writing them down. I started a simple list a few years ago, typed it into a file and saved it on my computer. So that Russian hacker wouldn’t have any trouble finding it, I called the file “secret stuff.”

Of course, by the time I saved it, I had changed three of them, realized I’d misspelled my nieces name, and forgot which folder they were in. I printed a copy of the list and hid it in the middle drawer of my desk. Later, to protect it, I moved it to another location. I did a great job of hiding it. By the time I find that list, I will have had to click on “forgot password” so many times that it will be worthless. Ivan Gotyournumbers won’t be hacking me because by the time he figures it out, I will have moved on.

Even though getting into these websites over the weekend seemed difficult, I did manage to do a little shopping on Friday night. Still with no list, it was hard. Prices were great, but there were too many choices. There was one of those new pressure cookers on sale at half price. By the time it arrived on Sunday — while I was at church — I had convinced myself that it was perfect for me. I found a television for my back room, a bathmat for the guest bath, and a big soft blanket which looks very nice on my bed. If I’d just made a list before the sales started, I would have bought someone else something.

Sometimes it is hard — even when you are shopping for yourself. My neighbor, Wanda June bought some really nice house-shoes online. They were regularly almost fifty dollars, soft as a baby kitten, and much more resilient. At seventy percent off, they were a bargain. They were also seventy percent too small. Leonard, her husband, offered to use his pocket knife to make a slit down the middle and fill the gap with duct tape. Luckily, she managed to hide them until she can find the box and return them.

I guess I’ll add Wanda June to my gift list. At least I know what she wants. I think my granddaughters would be happy with money and spa treatments. Alex will be happy with any toy with wheels and the new baby won’t be here until February — so I have time to plan for her. There are sales after Christmas, so maybe I’ll just give them all five dollars, and they can pick out whatever they want.

If I save enough on them, I can look into that new Kindle electronic reader — mine is very old, and I’m afraid I haven’t been good enough to make anyone’s list but my own.