When I was a working mom with three kids and standing in line to pay for Santa’s presents I would use that time to rest.
This week, I was outside standing in a line for my turn to go into New To You. I am mostly isolated and I was enjoying conversations around me. Two ladies were chatting, six-feet-apart, and one said that she did all of her Christmas shopping at New To You.
She turned to me and said that at New To You she could buy 20 baby outfits for the $40 she would spend at a regular store getting one.
Shopper’s Drug Mart’s post office is my mail outlet now and they have a display with children’s toys and books that look brand new. Pick an item and put in a toonie.
The first time I was in the line-up I put a toonie into the big, adorable piggy bank and picked up a wrapped-in-cellophane child’s book. This last time I put in a toonie and picked up the cuddliest, sweetest little Raggedy Anne for my great granddaughter and felt it was so precious that I put in another toonie.
Now that I am home and still love the little doll I wonder: should I have left the little Raggedy Anne for a mom to find? That is my dilemma when I look for and find good used second hand especially in the thrift stores.
Buying good second hand is important to me because of the waste in landfills and pollution through manufacturing. I asked a repairman where I could get a DVD player fixed and he said, throw it away they are so cheap now.
Sadly he was right because in order to have a DVD player that works I had to throw out mine because it is hard to find someone to do repairs on electronics: causing and contributing to landfills and pollution in the air. We are taking this gift of our wonderful world Earth for granted.
When a vaccine is available I will be one of the first to have my arm up. I am grateful to all who wear masks and keep a safe distance. So far, so good.
This week is winter solstice and more daylight all the way into the middle of 2021.
If you have a Christmas story to be told please do. The paper comes out the morning of Christmas Eve and goes to press Dec. 18, I need to have my copy in Dec. 17. Call 250-847-4414 or e-mail Sonja.lester.b.c@gmail.com
