The Elevator Scrooge

Scrooges confuse me, too

Lights are twinkling on our tree, and I’m curled up on our couch, filled with pizza and a little wine and the contented feeling built on conversation with close friends.


We spent the day reading Abbey’s new Christmas book and making hair bows at a play date, and I finally felt like I was able to breathe and enjoy the chill in the air that signals it’s time to remember my scarf each time I leave the house.


Yet a few things linger in my mind, prompting me to purge my thoughts in the hope that they’ll be exorcised and allow me to enjoy my chopped-off-at-the-top tree with only the holiday spirit brewing in my mind.

Dylan and I waited patiently near the elevator door at our bookstore today, and anyone who’s been shopping with Dylan knows that patiently waiting isn’t his usual shopping demeanor.


When he happily says, “Tank oo” as the elevator doors opened and hold onto the rail on the side of the wall, it is a little out of line, Ms. Lady-on-the-Elevator, to shoot him a withering glance and say, “Well, THAT’S not necessary.”


He may not understand, but I do, and it makes me want to press the stop button on the elevator and make you late for your next stop.


Please know, as I attempt to explain to my daughter that the candy canes in the end cap are cherry and not mint, it is only partially an accident when my cart bumps into your rear end as you cut in front of me in the awkward line at the grocery store.

As an ambulance screams down the street and I pull over to the side and slow to a stop, don’t shake your arms and yell at me. I can see you in my rearview mirror.


I know it takes me a while to load groceries into a car and two kids into car seats. Honking at me as you wait for my parking spot doesn’t make wrestling a toddler in a winter coat any easier.


Holiday shopping and waiting in lines and driving in extra traffic are the dark side of the holiday hustle and bustle, and I know they can be annoying. And really, these things that struck me as utterly rude at the time really aren’t that terrible.


Still, as I run my errands tomorrow, I will try to smile and hope I’m not on someone else’s list of exasperating holiday shoppers.