A Special Gift

Shopping — By Shopping Blogs on January 19, 2010 7:53 am

Sally’s son, Rupert, was turning thirteen years old on Saturday, and she knew that she’d have to buy him something special.  For a boy, she thought, a thirteenth birthday must be a pretty big deal–a right of passage, if you will.  She thought that she might get him a ring–something that, perhaps, he’d look back on in his adulthood; something that he’d really, truly remember.

“Really, though,” her husband had corrected her, “We should just get him something that he wants, you know?”  And she did know.  She’d still get her son that ring, she vowed to herself, but she’d compliment the gift with something a bit more simple–something that her pale, wistful son would undeniably enjoy: a video game console .

“I think it’s a great idea,” her husband had said, tossing on his jacket.  “Do you need any help or anything? I know how much you hate online shopping …”

“Well, I’m not going to be shopping online,” she’d corrected, tossing on her own jacket. “I’ll just go shopping out at Jimbo’s Electronics.  I mean, they’ve got everything he’d ever want, don’t you think?”

Her husband smiled.  “I’m sure that they do,” he assured her, and with that, they were off on their separate ways.

Buying the ring wasn’t a problem.  She had already known exactly what she wanted when she’d left the house that day, and she knew exactly where she was going to buy it.  But the game console–well, that was far outside of her comfort zone.  Sure, she’d spent many dinners listening to her son gush about the newest games and the newest consoles and all of that garbage–but really, she’d never paid attention to any of the specifics.  ‘And why should I?’ she thought to herself, parking the car and heading into the Electronics store.  She was an adult, she could read, and she knew her son rather well–surely her comparative shopping could produce a gift that she’d be proud of.  Right?

Inside the store, her confidence began to wane.  Standing in the doorway, hands inside of her pockets, Sally felt as though she’d stepped into some sort of alternate reality. Her vista was one of Japanese anime bleeding seamlessly into high definition televisions and computer software, inflatable chairs and green Styrofoam fists that roared as children punched each other playfully.  To her left, a forty year old man shook his head violently as he played a plastic guitar and sang into a plastic microphone.  She wanted a map–a map with a key–but more importantly, she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

“And what would you be shopping for today?” called a sales representative from the video game section.  Surely, she thought, this was a sign from the Gods.

“Well,” she responded, scratching her temple, “I was just shopping around for a video game console for my son.  He’s turning thirteen on Saturday.”

“Thirteen!  All right!” cheered the sales representative. “I have just the thing for him!”  Weaving through customers that were, at best, a third her age, Sally followed the sales rep through a brightly colored, painfully noisy gaming section.  They stopped in front of a gigantic red console–a display case equipped with the newest, most desired gaming console: the Game Master 3000.  “This,” continued the sales rep, pausing deliberately, “Is the latest and greatest in video game technology.  Built in WiFi; four controller ports with optional wireless hookups; built in gamer security to guarantee that your friends can hijack your account; Bluetooth capability and voice-chat technology; comes with four games already, and an entire year of free online services; the very best…”

For a moment, she felt as if she were staring directly into the future of her son.  And the next moment, she knew that this man–this anonymous sales rep–knew more about what her son liked than she did.  “You know what?” she interrupted, blushing slightly. “I’ll just go ahead and take it.  Do you guys do gift wrapping here?”

“Of course!” excalimed the sales rep, nearly shouting.  As he took off to start wrapping the gift , Sally decided that perhaps this shopping experience wasn’t as bad as she’d initially made it out to be.  ‘And really,’ she thought to herself, ‘That’s a nice ring I got him.  I’ll just save it for when he turns eighteen.’

On the way home, Sally figured she’d surprise her son by gushing about the console as powerfully as the sales rep had.  That, she figured, would be as good a birthday present as any.

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