Your link to Northwest Indiana. tm

[sidebar.htm]		Power Shopping By Thomas 1-5-06 Happy “Power Shopping” New Year! I trust everyone had a terrific holiday (you know, I have to be ‘politically correct’, therefore, I can’t say…Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, or Happy Kwanza…Oops, I just did…so sue me!) What have I been up to this past month, you ask?  Do I need to state the obvious? Wrapping next year’s Christmas presents and addressing next year’s Christmas cards, of course! That is right folks; Thomas has completed preparations for Christmas 2006 (or is that 2009?…I lost track) Don’t hate me because I’m…………organized! Shopping Ritual and Etiquette lesson 50: The Kindness of Friends & Strangers You never know what is going to be coming your way, especially when one is out Power Shopping.  A week before Christmas, I was ‘persuaded’ to assist in some personal shopping for a friend of mine…we shall call her…Lady Godiva.  Well, Lady Godiva only shops ‘high-end’ stores, so Thomas was ‘forced’ to enter Tiffany’s, Nordstrom’s, Nieman Marcus, Lord & Taylor, Marshall Field’s, and Sack’s Fifth Avenue. Thomas leads such a stressful life!  The Kindness of Friends took place at Sack’s Fifth Avenue.  Lady Godiva had received a $500 Sack’s 5th Avenue ‘gift card’ from a client. “Can you help me spend $500? Lady Godiva asked.  “If I must”, I responded. Knowing that Lady Godiva has a ‘purse fetish’, I suggested that we go immediately to the designer purse department.  Lady Godiva found a beautiful handbag by Dooney and Burke.  We looked around for a salesperson.  This anorexic looking old bag finally approached us and rudely stated “can I HELP you?  Lady Godiva and I came to the conclusion that we were being ‘profiled’ as ‘unsuitable’ customers for Sack’s 5th Avenue.  Thomas, being Thomas, was just about to go ‘postal’ on the old broad when Lady Godiva starts in on the b#t&*.  Lady Godiva takes out her platinum American Express Card and her CEO business card and snaps at the lady, “My business firm spends tens of thousands in your store.  You will never see our business again.”  Lady Godiva looks at me and says, “Let’s exit this sorry excuse for a store.”  “What about the $500 gift card”, I inquire. “Thomas, you take it”, she asserts! “If you insist”, I respond. Thomas is so proud of Lady Godiva! The Kindness of Strangers took place at the TJ Maxx store in Merrillville, Indiana.  Thomas decided to go into TJ Maxx two days before Christmas. Why? Everyone knows that Thomas likes to be a ‘little devilish’ and finds much satisfaction in making fun of all   the poor schmucks that waited until the last minute to do their gift shopping.  Laughter is the best medicine, after all! So I entered the store around 8:00pm and noticed about 24 people, frantically grabbing anything they thought would qualify for an acceptable Christmas gift. I walked around pointing and chuckling at the ‘losers’. The Christmas items were already marked down 50% and many clothing items were already hanging on clearance racks.  I found a sweater marked down from $85 to $5.00.  I proceeded to the checkout lane and got behind two women doing their entire Christmas shopping.  I counted over 35 items in their cart.  My must have had a huge smirk on my face, for one of the ladies looks at me and smiles, stating, “Don’t worry honey, it will all be over in a few days”.  I stated back, “You don’t know me very well, but I am the person you hate because I have had everything done since last Christmas”.  “So why are you hear”, she comments.  I sheepishly reply, “I am hear to make fun of all you late people, I am evil that way”.  She started laughing.  We continued making small talk white the cashier was ringing up her purchases. Her amount came to $395.  She pulled out a TJ Maxx gift card for $400.  After the transaction was completed, the cashier handed back her card and said that there was a balance of $5.00.  The woman stated that she had completed her Christmas shopping and then handed Thomas the gift card stating, “Here, you can have it…Merry Christmas”! And it was.  After deducting the $5.00 from my sweater purchase, I only owed the sales tax of $. 30. Ahhh, the Kindness of Friends and Strangers! And now… DON’T DOUBT THOMAS! Thomas has been suffering from the flu the past week and only managed to go shopping one day…but a good so it was so…. THINK CONVECTION AND ROTISSERIE OVEN! Target [nationwide] is offering a jet convection and rotisserie oven, by Euro Pro, for $79.  It bakes, broils, and toasts!  They also have a 1.3 cu ft. 1,100-watt microwave, by Daewood, for $79. THINK LAPTOP COMPUTER! Office Depot [nationwide] is offering a HP Pavilion ze2000z Notebook computer with AMD Sempron Processor 3000+ for $499.99 after rebates.  It has 256MB of memory, a 40GB hard drive, plays DVD’s and CD’s via the DVD-Rom drive, and comes with Windows XP Home with Service Package 2. THINK PORTABLE DVD PLAYER! Meijer [nationwide] has a 7-inch jportable DVD player for $99.97.  It comes with video/audio/earphone outputs, car carrier bag, full remote control, and a rechargeable battery. THINK BATHROOM WEIGHT SCALE! Gain a few pounds over the holidays?  Wal*Mart has a bathroom scale, by Taylor, for $28.96 that measures weight, body fat, and hydration levels.  It stores data for up to 4 users. THINK MEN’S TUXEDO SHIRT! AJ Wright [nationwide] has men’s tuxedo shirts, by Varon, for $9.99. To all my ‘kind’ friends and strangers…Thomas needs a new Lexus! Thomas