I’m stuffed, and tired. I hung out with Henrick today at the Eatons Centre and got a whole load of shopping done (and out of the way). I have gifts for my family now, and I just need to keep things safe until Christmas.

They have a nice Swarovski crystal Christmas tree on display there. Go visit if you get the chance. You have to see it sparkling for yourself, you know.

Over at Old Navy, as we were browsing jackets, one of the employees started yelling out something at the oppotiste end of the store. I was curious to see what kind of promotion they were having. We approached the crowd and listened in. There was a clerk standing up on top of a table by the cash registers. It seemed that they were playing a game where they named an item, and anyone who had the item would get something for free. Well, I was intrigued. The first item I heard them call out was a picture of a pet. Someone from the crowd produced the picture from her cell phone. When she did, she received something red as a prize from another clerk on the ground among the crowd. Well, the next item she called had a small pre-amble. She said “some of you university guys might have this item!” Well, when I heard that, I reached for my wallet and was ready to yank out whatever she called. She said, “I’m looking for a university ID card!” I still had my Watcard in my wallet, so I yanked it out and waved it in the air. There were others in the crowd that were waving their (empty) hands up saying “I have one! I have one!” The store clerk acknowledged my presence at first, but paused when more people raised their hand. It was at that point she made an error in judgment. She said “OK…so, first one up here gets the prize!” I was at the periphery of the crowd, so I slowly made my way up. However, one of the guys who originally waved his hand started waving his wallet and hurrying to the front.

Oh, gauntlet thrown. It’s on, bitch!

So, I start increasing my speed in the effort to get my already exposed university card to the front clerk. The guy was still waving his wallet while attempting to break his ID free. I think some competitive switch had been turned on in my mind, and I intended to get up there at all costs. In the end…I did. I was the first to get my card into her hand, to which the clerk said…”OK! OK! You win!” Her tone was sort of in a “OK, down boy!” manner. Well, I got my red slip. I was kind of happy, but at the same time a bit shocked at the frenzy. I tried to make my way back over to Henrick who was laughing at the spectacle. I looked around, and some of the crowd was laughing. The clerk in the crowd exclaimed, “Oh my God, I just got bowled over by that guy!” Apparently, I must have really shoved people out of the way to get to the front. Henrick tells me that I “stomped over” this young kid to get to the front. In the moment, I didn’t notice; it all happened so quickly. Henrick and I laughed so hard at the silliness of it all. I looked at the red slip, and opened it up. The prize?

$1 off your next purchase.

I nearly killed someone and ran over a kid for $1 off. Hilarious.
(I’m going to hell.)