On Friday we ventured out to Best Buy for the infamous retail holiday. I’m fairly certain I’ve spent my entire life avoiding Best Buy, and especially avoiding it at its peak of lights, sounds, and crowds. I usually find the entire place cold, blinding, and lacking in complementary ear plugs. But, I find myself in the market for a TV and various appliances. Plus, I’m the primary parent of two teenage boys that have graduated from Tom’s Toys, to Gamestop, to Best Buy.
I learned this weekend that browsing is not in their repertoire. Nate went in, found the first sales guy available, got the monitor he’d researched online, and then I had to lug it around the store so I could look at appliances for longer than 3 minutes.
The following day, I was surprised when they agreed to go Christmas shopping downtown, as Grandma and Granddad had thoughtfully funded a Mom present. They wanted to go into one store, buy me a gift, and bolt. Of course if I’m getting one present, I want to look around. Weigh my options. Browse. Sample. Savor.
They want to go into Williams-Sonoma, buy $60 worth of peppermint bark, throw something in for me, and speed walk back to the car.
The previous day, as we were driving into the Best Buy parking lot, Jake pipes-up, “I have my Dad memory of the day…”
“He told me you have to be at least 70-years old to be able to see See’s Candy.”
“Hah! I never heard that one before. That’s pretty funny.”
At dinnertime, it’s clear Nate doesn’t get the joke.
He can totally see it.