Souvenir Stress

Day 304

During our recent week away I was faced with an ongoing problem for me, souvenir shopping. I referenced this in an earlier post when I finally realized that my friends and family don't want a souvenir t-shirt from my vacation. The word souvenir, after all, is French meaning memory or remembrance. They will have no memory of this exotic local, in fact only a reminder that they were not there. 

Still, souvenir shops call out to me. I can't buy t-shirts or shop local boutiques this year but I still wanted to bring something back for my grandson. Heck, I go to Target and want to buy a souvenir for my grandson. I want to spoil that boy rotten!  Alas, I looked and looked and found nothing that he doesn't already have or wouldn't flush down the toilet. 

A stroll through town on Coronado Island led us to a shop featuring products celebrating Navy Seals (as Coronado Island is a prominent training location). Ever the patriot, my husband decided that our grandson would love a Navy Seals t-shirt. "Great, but you'll have to pick it out yourself." I gave him a size range and walked away. 
5 minutes later I checked on his progress. He was still in adult sizes holding them up. 
10 minutes: salesgirl directs him to children's sizes (5 feet away)
15 minutes: looking at each and every design
20 minutes: rechecking each and every design
25 minutes: my psychic screams are not reaching him as he continues to pass by the best design
30 minutes: I'm bored out of my mind and he's stressing big time
35 minutes: "Just grab one!!!"
40 minutes: Success! But let's get one for our nephew, too! I thought he would kill me. He did pick the best design though, which gives me hope for my psychic powers.
45 minutes: Same shirt for both boys. We finally pay and leave.
50 minutes: I owe him three candy bars. He let's me know that, while he is very proud of my no-buy year, this is causing him a great deal of unnecessary stress and he hopes I appreciate it. 

Stress? I grew a patch of gray hair and gained 5 lbs. over that single incident.