running on

 I took Julia on a shopping trip tonight

    Each year the Community Action Network (CAN) sponsors a shopping trip for less fortunate families.

    Jackie and I often go, but Julia was interested and Jackie wasn't feeling up to it, so it was just the 2 of us.

    The way it works is volunteers sign in at the church , wait for a family, take a bus to Walmart, shop from a list provided by parents, pay with a credit card supplied by CAN, and return to the church.  At the church there is a long section of coats, gloves and hats that families can take.  There is also a spaghetti supper, Santa, and my favorite, cookies.

    Julia and I were assigned a family of 5.  That sounds like a lot, but 3 of the youngsters were too young to go shopping, so we had their items on a list along with items for the two boys who went.

    Let me call them Boy 1 and Boy 2.

    Boy 1 was the older brother.  He was fairly well behaved.  Boy 2 might have been the wild child.

    As soon as we went in the store, he took off like a bullet.

    Up one aisle, down another.  We kept calling "Boy 2.  By 2.  come back and stay with us."  That seemed like pouring gas on the fire.

    At first I would go after him.  He would get to the end of an aisle and I would be at the other end of the aisle and then FLASH! Gone.

    At one point he was off and running for 10 minutes.  We kept hearing him, but not seeing or catching him.

    When he finally would come back, for a rest I presume, he would put things in the cart.  He needed underwear, so he put in socks.  He needed shirts, so he put in a sweatshirt.  The sweatshirt was not too bad so we left that in the cart.

    He came racing around a corner with a red pair of women's underwear in his hands, I grabbed it an put them back.

    When we finally got to to his  underwear, he picked out the wrong size and put it in the cart.  I fished it out and he put another pack of the wrong size in the cart.  I fished it out and he was gone.    

    Then his brother started chasing him...up one aisle, down another.  At one point Boy 2 came back to what he thought was our car and started pushing it, only to have a lady say, "Where are you going with m cart?"

    And zoom, he was off again.

    Our shopping time was 5:30....we started out about 5:45 and were still in the store at 7!

    My friend Lisa was back in the store with her second shopper.....she was shopping when we got there and had lapped us, as they say in the racing business.

    I caught up to them in the toy aisle and said we had to find Julia, at which point they both began yelling, "Julia!  Julia!   Julia!"  And yes, she heard them.  The whole store heard them

    When we were checking out Boy 2 spotted a gum ball machine.  Julia was  afraid he was going to knock it over, but he didn't. 

    He came over to Julia and asked her for a quarter.  She said she didn't have any.  He asked me for a quarter.  I said I didn't have any.  He  asked the checkout lady for a quarter. She said she didn't have any.  Then the young man checking out on the next lane said, "I have a quarter."

    Julia and I both turned to him and said, "NO YOU DON'T."

    He had a slightly frightened look on his face as he slipped it back into his pocket.

    "Someday you'll have kids and then you'll understand," I said.

    When we got back to their church, the boys appeared to magically sprout halos as they quietly sat down for a spaghetti dinner.

    I did tell the lady assigning kids to shoppers that it was a lot of fun and I apologize for running her off the road the next time I see  her.

    And yes, we did spend over our limit.  When that happens, I pull out the charge card and make up at the difference

    That does not bother me because my family has lived a blessed life.  

    And. I can put up with a couple of high strung kids if it means bringing a little happiness into their lives.  And Julia agrees.

Peace and Love