Yesterday, Jordan and I went shopping for a bridal shower gift at Target. When this adventure started off we were poking and checking everything on the registry sheet. I was being slow and trying to decide what I thought would be the best gift. About halfway through the list we came across an item that we had no idea what it was. We decided to head over about 10 aisles and figure it out. Once arriving we were picking it up and deciding whether it would be a good purchase.
In the midst of our deciding a cheery blonde lady called out to us, "are you buying for (insert bride's name here)?"
We stopped and looked at each other and then looked to the lady. "Yeah."
She smiled graciously, "Oh, well I've already picked that up, but you can have it if you'd like."
I obviously wasn't about to raid this woman's shopping cart so we refused her offer and decided to move on.
Jordan and I found another item that we thought would be great, but we knew that wrapping it would be a nightmare. There was no way to find a box big enough for this thing! So, then I set off to find something else instead. Walking back through, I spotted a lady from our church who I knew was buying for the same bride.
I called out hello to her in a chippery voice, but wasn't feeling so chippery. This was one more person we had to beat and compete to get a good gift. She smiled and talked about how she was having trouble finding a gift that was easy to wrap. Join the club.
When she walked away to continue her quest, we overheard a young woman with her cute baby in tow talking about her purchase on the phone. "Well, they're registered at Bed Bath and Beyond too."
Jordan and I stopped and turned to each other. As our mouths dropped open, Jordan dramatically squeals, "She's here for them too!!"
I moaned and gripped the handles on my cart. I was determined to get a good gift and one that could be wrapped because Jordan had found PERFECT wrapping paper for $1.00. I swerved the buggy down the next aisle and took off at an impressive speed. On our way, we spotted a couple walking around with a registry in their hand as well, pointing at gifts that we had already seen. At this point we became paranoid and started to wonder if everyone invited to the wedding was shopping in Target at this EXACT moment.
We stopped at another aisle and then another, still in a panic to find something. A few minutes into our search the lady from our church came prancing back through. "OH, I found the perfect gift! This is just what I was looking for." It was big, it was nice, it was expensive.
Jordan and I looked at each other in disbelief. Would we ever find the perfect gift in this ridiculous race? We decided to take off, we couldn't give up just yet!
Finally, after running halfway through the store we arrived at our next destination. The aisle was blocked with carts, so I sprinted to the other end and turned on two wheels at the other end. When I stopped to catch my breath, I looked up to see the first blonde lady smiling and holding the gift I was racing to find. It was the perfect gift and packaged so that it would be super easy to wrap. "Looking for this?" She smiled cunningly, as if she too felt the pressure of this race. I just found myself exploding in laughter. Could this really be happening?
She looked into our cart and then back up. She then approached us, "I just needed something that would fit inside the first gift I picked up."
Jordan moved a little closer. "We were looking for something we could wrap with this perfect wrapping paper." She held up the paper and the woman nodded, "That is perfect."
She sat the gift in my cart. "Here, take this."
I looked up at her, shocked and in awe. "What? Are you sure?"
She nodded, only looking a little disappointed.
Jordan held up the first gift we had considered that was much too large to wrap. "We were going to get this, but it'd be too hard to wrap."
The blonde lady had a twinkle in her eye. "So, you're not getting it now?"
We shook our heads no and all three of us had the same realization. It would fit perfectly inside of the first gift she picked up. She reached down toward it, "Trade?"
I nodded and threw a victorious fist into the air. "Yes, this is perfect! Thank you!"
She smiled and looked just as ecstatic as I felt.
Jordan grabbed my arm. "We have to hurry! Other people could be purchasing this right now! There are about a billion people in here buying for the same people. What if they purchase it before us?"
I couldn't let that happen. So, we took off running and found the shortest line. I threw the gift up there and heaved the registry list at the cashier. I slouched in relief as I heard the "ding" of her scanner. We had gotten it.
Jordan then lifted the perfect wrapping paper. "I don't think this is wide enough for our gift."
It was true. The perfect paper would not be wide enough to wrap this gift. It was one of those rolls that was only about half the width of a normal roll. We decided to put it up and get some at Walmart.
Jordan and I held our heads high as we marched out of Target in victory. We had gotten a great gift and a great price! We had been at least a runner-up in the bizarre bridal buying bonanza!
We spent the next two hours looking for wrapping paper. After about ten stores, we resolved that our luck had come to it's end. There was no good wrapping paper to be found, and the only thing suitable was $4.00! We decided to shrug it off and head home. We will continue our wedding gift adventures another day. Be sure, if anything remotely crazy happens on our next outing like it did at Target, I'll be sure to let you know.
Oh, and don't worry. I'll make sure to top this off with spiritual justification. Even Paul encouraged a little bit of competition with these kinds of things ;)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.-1 Corinthians 9:24
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