Shopping on Boxing Day
"Visa Canada says that over 2.5 million Torontonians will be out shopping today, spending an average of $320 each."
There's an all news radio station in Toronto that gives you this strange snippet of reality every fifteen minutes or so, with breaks for driving conditions and the weather report. I remember drowsily listening to the radio talking about the very traffic jam we were stuck in.
We had decided, foolishly, to drive to Yorkdale. And I was hopped up on anti-histimines, so that I didn't have to carry around a dozen tissue boxes.
Boxing Day is one of those strange Canadian holidays. One where people wake up early after a night of revelry, go to the mall with everyone else, and fight over who gets to spend money. It's a truly bizarre way for merchants to get rid of their year-end inventory.
We dropped off my mother and f_law at the front door and went over to a nearby hardware outlet to pick up some things, when I noticed that their paint section had a display of painted poinsettia. The plants didn't seem too happy with this, because they had gone brittle and droopy. After purchasing a new snow shovel to replace the broken one, we drove to the mall's parking lot.
There were all sorts of cars, many of the SUVs, which seemed to be quite upset at the situation. They'd drive around and around in circles, obviously looking for a free spot. Meanwhile, dad and I decided to relax and wait. Like an island of calm in a sea of road rage. We stopped the car close to an entrance of the mall so we could see if anyone was leaving. Soon enough, some family came out and put their shopping into their car. They pulled out and we pulled in.
After going inside the mall, we called Flora and discovered that they were looking at cosmetics. We found each other and I found that everyone was interested in finding me some new clothes. I think we spent the rest of the afternoon going from store to store until we found things that were (a) not tacky and (b) fit. This was far more difficult than it should be.
But we prevailed. And I think we succeeded.