}

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Christmas Eve adventures

Today began with a small shopping excursion—to a supermarket and a pet shop. “But, Arthur,” you may be thinking, “it’s Christmas Eve in New Zealand—are you mad?!” Quite possibly, but this excursion (probably) isn’t evidence. Maybe.

At any rate, I needed a couple things from the supermarket (everything’s closed tomorrow), but the main thing I needed was flea/worm treatment for Leo, something I only realised yesterday evening when I looked at the calendar alerts I’d ignored (I ran out of Leo’s stuff last month, and it was time for this month’s). The pet shop closes around 5, maybe an hour or so before I saw the reminder. Oops.

So, last night I went to bed early (for me…), and got up around 7:30 this morning (I should pause to allow folks who know me well to recover from fainting…). I had a cup of coffee, then had my shower and got ready. I was out the door a little after 8 (more fainting…).

Traffic wasn’t too bad, with most of it on the busiest road (Te Rapa) heading North toward The Base and its mall, Te Awa. I was heading South to New World first, and the carpark there was a bit more crowded at 8:15 than I was expecting (probably because I was naive; they opened at 7), but I still found a spot easily.

The shop was quite full—and everyone seemed to have lost all sense of spatial awareness. Workers were busy restocking shelves, which meant various sized carts were in the aisles, but some people nevertheless thought it was a good idea to park their trolley near the middle of one side the aisle and stand in the other half of the aisle while they scanned a shelf. I wish I could say that was an exaggeration or sarcasm, but, sadly, it’s not. I suppose that since so many of them didn’t know how to drive in the carpark, I shouldn’t have been surprised (okay, that’s mildly sarcastic).

Anyway, I got what I went there for (the only soft drink I buy was on super-duper special, and basmati rice was on special, too, and I also found a brand of bread I haven’t seen in the shops for weeks—maybe months). Most of what I got was on special, actually.

And, today was Tuesday—Super Gold Card Day at New World! So, I got my $3.36 discount. Never stand between a senior and a discount (to paraphrase what’s his name on “The Simpsons”), especially when said senior is dumb enough to go to a supermarket on Christmas Eve.

My final stop was the nearby Animates where I got Leo’s flea stuff—and, quite possibly, an unscheduled treat, too. Allegedly.

I had to drive Northbound to get home, but it was only a short distance, and not too bad, really—but I was even happier to get home than Leo was to see me, which is saying a lot.

I can only remember one other time that I went to a supermarket on Christmas Eve, and that was when Nigel and I were still living in the North Shore and his sister and I made a mad dash to Countdown (as it was called back then) in Birkenhead, and that was far, FAR worse than today. I have absolutely no memory of why we had to go out at the last minute—or maybe that’s my brain protecting me from the traumatic experience?

That seared-into-my-brain long ago experience prepared me for what I might experience today, so it was fine: My loins were properly girded, my resolve steeled, and I wore my patience and calmness as armour—and the bizarre thing is, it worked! I wasn’t the least bit stressed, and I was absolutely able to be kind and friendly with the workers I dealt with. I even managed to avoid scowling at the aisle-hogs and amateur carpark drivers—which may well be the biggest Christmas miracle of all today.

Later in the day I was getting together with family, so after I got home I did some routine chores and then carried on with grooming Leo. We even squeezed in a brief nap this afternoon (because getting up at 7:30 was the truly insane thing I did today…). Leo also consumed his anti-flea (etc) thingee. Smartest thing I ever did with him was convincing him when he was a puppy that the anti-flea (etc) thingees are treats. Who’s a good boy? I’M a good boy! Allegedly.

This afternoon, I picked up my mother-in-law to take her to our gathering at my cousin-in-law’s place. Traffic was pretty good, and was even better when I took her home around 8:30. I don’t know why, but it always surprises me at this time of year when the sun is still shining at that time—probably because in winter it’s been dark for maybe hours by then. With so much of the year NOT summer, I guess I’m not used to driving home from a family gathering in the daylight.

In any event, I had a great time with the fam at my cousin-in-law’s place. She put on a lovely spread! Tomorrow it’s another family gathering, which is awesome. To me, the best part of the holidays is spending time with family.

All of this is really to say that an ordinary day can be an adventure if you approach it right. I try not to take anything too seriously—especially not myself. It doesn’t work every day, of course, but actually seeing the funny stuff going on around me sure helps.

Whatever you’re doing over these holidays, I hope you have love, laughter, and yummy things to eat, but if you don’t, I wish you peace and contentment in whatever form that takes for you.

But, maybe you should avoid supermarkets on Christmas Eve. Just saying.

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