The Goddess Speaks
The Goddess Speaks
Buying a Boo
for Christmas
is a scary ideaWith ONE week left until Christmas, the only gifts I have left are for those "hard-to-buy-for people." So, after browsing the malls hoping to find perfect gifts for these people, I sent out calls of help to mutual friends.
Then, I got a call back from a mutual friend stating he knew what our other friend wanted for Christmas.
"Tell me," I replied, mentally checking one more person off my list.
"The Boo doll," he replied. "I don't know if you'll be able to find it though."
As we chatted, I started the search for the little girl character from "Monsters, Inc." I connected to www.amazon.com.
"Is it the one with Sulley?" I asked.
"Nope."
That one was $60 without shipping charges, so I was glad it wasn't the one. I continued the search. I just had to find out what, exactly, he was talking about.
I looked further down the list of items that came up. There was a stuffed animal Boo doll. I clicked on the picture that came up under amazon.com's auction section. The bid was up to $99.
"There's a plush doll that's going for $100!" I exclaimed.
"That must be it," my friend replied.
Crazy. The last time I was involved in a toy-buying frenzy was when Power Rangers was the hot Christmas gift. Oh, wait, I think I still have a couple of Tamagotchis too, still in their boxes. Hmmm, did I buy a Furby, too? I had my limits, though. I wasn't going to spend $100 for a doll that, as I found out, retailed for around $25. At least I knew what I was looking for.
Then my friend reminded me that we saw the Boo dolls at Toys R Us in New York when we were there, just 11 days ago.
"What?!"
"Gotta go," he said, and hung up.
"Anyone know where I can find a Boo doll?" I cried to anyone within earshot. I didn't expect any response; I just had to release the anguish of not buying one, two, three -- hell, shipping a whole bunch back to Honolulu from New York. The shelves at Toys R Us there were lined with them; here, they're empty.
Extremely helpful and resourceful co-workers came to my rescue and within minutes had a New York colleague on the phone.
"Hi, Kevin," I said. I was a little hesitant to speak to him because I didn't want him going out of his way to pick up a toy and, secondly, I hadn't called him when I was on his turf. I hoped he wouldn't figure out I was just in New York.
He asked specifics about the doll and worried that he may not be able to find it. I assured him there are plenty at the new Toys R Us store in Times Square near all the other "Monsters, Inc." merchandise.
"Wait," he said. "You were in New York and you didn't call me?"
"I'm sorry!" I blurted.
"You were here, didn't call, and now you're calling me from Honolulu asking me for a favor?" he continued.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
He continued talking, and my guilt in me grew until I confessed everything, including having passed his Newsweek office several times. "In fact," I said, "we stayed on 58th Street (around the corner from his office)."
"Uh huh," he said.
"But I didn't call because I didn't want to bother you," I said.
My co-workers were laughing, saying, "You are so busted."
"Is there anything you want from here?" I asked. He could have asked for 100 pineapples to arrive there by the end of the week, and I would have tried to FedEx them. Are they even in season? Thank goodness he didn't ask for that.
"We'll just say you owe me one," he said.
"OK," I replied, and went back to my desk. With Boo essentially in the bag, I checked another name off my list.
Now what do I get for Kevin?
The Goddess Speaks runs every Tuesday
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