In the midst of chaos, it’s the little things

Today was a crazy day. I really have a paper to finish, but there were other deadlines that I had to contend with also.

Last week at my field placement letters to Santa by children at a shelter for women escaping domestic violence were handed out. My husband and I took one from a three year old boy asking for a monster truck and a toy train. I figured it would be easy to fulfill these wishes and then some.

Of course, I forgot I live in Manhattan. And that I was taking finals. I love Manhattan for a thousand reasons. One of them is that it is nothing like the suburbs. However, sometimes not being able to jump in the car and make a quick run to a big box store can have its down sides.

Like today. I took the subway uptown to buy toys for this child. Of course, there are few places to do this easily or cheaply. So I wound up in the same crowded store as everyone else, fighting to get through tiny aisles to look for trains and monster trucks and other things a 3 year old might like. It all took about 5 times longer than it should have.

By the time I got through the check out line, I was hot, tired, hungry, and needed to stop in the rest room. I took a shortcut through Penn Station since I knew the restroom and the food issues could be dealt with there.

Yikes. What a zoo. A circus. A mob scene. Utter chaos. And of course (are we shocked???) a line for the ladies’ room.

When I finally wound my way into the bathroom, there was an attendant directing traffic. It was THAT crowded. To my surprise, she took one look at me and my pile of shopping bags and offered to watch them for me. Really? That was the best news I’d heard all day. I wasn’t going to have to figure out how to hang bags with matchbox cars and thomas the tank engine and a fisher price construction set and Mr. Potato Head, etc. on the one crummy little hook on the stall door! That was thrilling.

Seriously people, it’s the little things. Really.

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~ by Sophia on December 16, 2007.