Procrastinator Vindicated

Ok, just for the record, I DID NOT get escorted out of Walmart by the police, as my oldest daughter so capably wrote on FaceBook...they were waiting outside the door to make sure that no one tried to get INTO Walmart after 8 PM on Christmas Eve.

I need to explain this situation.

I thought it would be good to get a few gifts for Christmas because I hadn't been able to get into the store before Christmas Eve...so the pressure was on. I got in the Mustang and traveled the 45 minutes to the city where there are actually stores to purchase gifts at. (Amazing that all the places I live are between 45 minutes to an hour away from a Walmart store...or any other major store for that matter.)

Anyway, I pulled into town at 6:35 PM and found the K-mart so that I could purchase the dump truck that Craig (yes, my husband) asked for Christmas. I ran (literally) into the store, found the truck and a wii game for our son, zipped through the check out line and ran back to the car, plopping the gifts on the back seat and hurriedly strapped myself in and was on my way.

I arrived at Walmart, grabbed a cart and entered the store. It was 6:55 pm. As I walked through the door, a voice came over the intercom that said, "Walmart shoppers, we will be closing the store at 8 pm this evening. Please bring your purchases to the front of the store. We will be closing promptly at 8 pm." Ok, panic set in. I had just walked through the door. Good thing I had a trusty list and knew EXACTLY what I needed...the only problem is that the Walmart store had switched everything around and I had no clue where any of those EXACT items might be.

7:05 PM, the voice reminds me again, that Walmart is closing at 8 pm and I still have only two items in my cart. I was struggling finding the Christmas Dinner items that I needed.

Every 5 minutes or so, I was briefly reminded that I should be bringing my items to the front of the store...now I really WAS stressed.  at 7:40 pm, the voice informed all of us procrastinating shoppers that they had now locked the doors on the one side of Walmart and there was only one way out after check out. To add to that, the voice said that once you left the store, you would not be allowed back inside so make sure that you didn't forget anything on your way out.

At this point, I was still looking for the nutmeg, canned chili, and frozen orange juice. By 7:50, I had found the canned chili, frozen orange juice, gave up on the nutmeg, and was on my way to find the aluminum pans.  I found the pans (after asking a stressed employee where it was and finding out that I was on the wrong side of the store), and raced (literally) to the front of the store to find a line to wait in for check out.

At 8:05 pm, I made it to the check out stand. There were very few people left in the lines and I was one of the final people they were waiting on. By this time, most of the check out lines had been closed and so I sped through the check out line and made my way to the front door that was still open.

As I sped through the door, there were two policeman and two security guards on the outside of the door, two on each side. A police car had it's lights flashing at the entryway and the guards were posted there making sure that everyone left...and that no one tried to turn around and go back inside. I heard one of them say that they were going to pull another car to the other side to make sure that everyone knew that Walmart was CLOSED. They figured the flashing red and blue lights would make sure that no one tried to get in...you never know about those last minute shoppers!

I got to the parking lot and panic hit. I couldn't find my car! There were so few cars in the lot at this time that I should have been able to see it easily...oh, there it was, clear across the parking lot and under a street light...and I mean CLEAR across the parking lot. The parking lot was almost vacant. It seemed like forever to get to the car, unload my cart, RETURN the cart to the cart holder, and drive away.

Now, before I drove out of sight, I pulled up as close as I dared to the police officers and took a picture of the flashing lights at the front of the store...because I KNEW that my oldest daughter would not believe my Christmas Eve shopping spree, so I had to have PROOF that there really was police officers at the front of Walmart making sure that it closed on Christmas Eve.

This stuff only happens to me...I guess next year I better shop a bit earlier! Hope y'all have a great NEW YEAR!

Christmas Gift Procrastinator

Hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas!

I haven't begun shopping yet (except for the few gifts that I actually sent in the mail a few weeks ago.) I guess you could say that I am the world's greatest procrastinator...Hoping the stores are still open and that I can finish all that I need to get done today! (Actually, it is because I live in the outskirts of towns and have to travel several miles to FIND a store that has gifts.)

Hope you have a great Christmas!