I do most, if not all, of my shopping online. I find it so much more relaxing then driving to malls and shopping centers; no traffic, no lines, no roaming around aimlessly searching for items that aren’t there.

I am living the Life of Riley when I am shopping on-line.

But, I decided to brave the highway today so I could get my pups some special Santa Christmas treats from the pet store.

I hopped on the highway and came to an immediate stop. The surface streets may have been a better option for the next 5 miles; I was driving 0-5 miles per hour on a 65 mph highway.

 What was I thinking?

Ah well. I stayed in the slow lane and turned up the radio. The music was good, and I was singing along in a happy holiday mood. The car or two that cut me off didn’t bother me in the least bit; those drivers must be in one HUGE hurry to cut into the slow lane.

I reached my turn-off. I had to drive on the berm to get into the correct lane. I was fortunate I was turning right instead of left at the end of the exit – the two left turning lanes had cars backing up on the highway. I slowly followed the line of cars ahead of me, braking all the way up that eighth mile ramp, and found out why it took three lights and 25 minutes to reach that turn; Cars in the right lane were trying to save time by cutting into the left hand turn lane.

Oh the joy of the holiday season.

I didn’t let that ruin my day. It’s Christmas for Christ’s sake. I made it to the store, and found a parking spot – I only had to circle like a vulture three times before I found one. Now I was ready to shop.

I was looking for some Kong toys and some special treats made in the USA. I didn’t want any treats made in China since they are making dogs sick, so I took my time maneuvering through the aisles until I found exactly what I wanted.

That’s when I found out the line to reach the 4 cashiers started at the rear of the store. God Almighty – this is a BIG pet store, not some airline check-in full of holiday travellers!

It was okay though; there were lots of cute pets waiting and nice people to talk to – I reached the front of the wait line in about 20 minutes.

Right about then a woman came in through the front door and excused herself past me to go into the aisle we were standing in front of. I didn’t pay too much attention. I could see the four cashier lines and knew I was next to get in one of those lines.

Number 4 looked short, but it was farthest away; Numbers 2 and 3 had several patient shoppers still in line. Number 1 only had three people waiting… and it was only two steps away, so I decided to go there.

I unloaded my cart and saw the woman who had walked in before come out on the far end of the aisle. She looked right, then left and proceeded to step into the #4 checkout line, bypassing all of the customers standing so politely…and for so long in the wait line.  The gasps were audible behind me; kind of like when you’ve just witnessed a most amazing landing….except it wasn’t awe but anger I heard in those groans.

I wasn’t fazed.

I paid for my items and left the store. During the drive home I realized my little shopping trip had just reminded me about why I started shopping on-line. I turned up the tunes and smiled.

Yep – it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Merry Happy!