I am more of a volunteer-my-time, rather that a give-you-my-money, kind of a person when it comes to charities, so when they put up the Angel Tree at Canuck's, I wasn't really interested. I didn't even feel bad, because the names and wishes were flying off the tree, taken by other people more generous than me.
The number one requested gift was an MP3 player. In fact, I didn't see a single card asking for anything else. There is supposed to be a $200MXN limit on the value of the gift, but MP3 players can be a pricey item. Many of the people signing up to be angels were grandparent-aged and, judging from the questions I was being asked as the official youngest person in the room, had no idea what an MP3 player was or how much one costs.
Many of the wishes were specifically for ipods. A woman asked me where to get one, and I told her I had seen one at Sam's Club for $800MXN. That left her a little speechless. Then I made the mistake of mentioning that I had seen a store advertising 2GB MP3 players for $171MXN. My friend Santiago's ears pricked up. "Really?" he asked. Then he went to the tree grabbed two wishes, and handed them to me along with $400MXN. Well, I did say I was a donate-my-time kind of person.
A few days later, Chuck and I headed downtown to buy the gifts. I had forgotten how insane downtown is during Christmas shopping season. The sidewalks were absolutely crammed with people. The streets were one big traffic jam practically in gridlock. Chuck and I took a deep breath and waded in. We fought our way through the crowds, finally arriving feeling battered and tired.
Chuck waited his turn at the busy counter of the overflowing store, finally getting helped by a teenaged girl. He asked for the advertised MP3 player. The girl said no. He started to take her outside to show her the sign. She knew exactly what he was talking about. They didn't have them and hadn't had them. Instead, she handed him a 4GB MP3 player for $244MXN. Now, that's still a good price, but I was really pissed off at the bait-and-switch, and we left.
I was thinking this couldn't possibly be the only store with a good deal on MP3 players, and I would give my business to someone more honest. We searched in and out of every store and street cart in 20 blocks, fighting the crowds the whole time. Guess what? That was the only store with a good deal on MP3 players. The next cheapest we could find was $395MXN. I still wasn't ready to give them my money. We went home.
A few days later, after I had a chance to calm down, I realized we still needed the MP3 players, and we were on a budget. So we went back to the store. I went up the counter and asked for the MP3 players. I looked them over, asked for two, and made my purchase. Finally, it was done. Then they offered to load the players with music for only $30MXN more.
I should have said no and been done with it, but I couldn't help but think that the gifts were for boys in an orphanage. The whole reason they have an angel tree is because they don't have much. How on Earth are they going to load them with music? And an MP3 player without music is a fashion accessory.
They also said that the guarantee is voided if the boys load music themselves, which actually made sense. With ungrounded power and salty air, the odds go up significantly of a spark shorting out the device when plugging or unplugging it from the computer. Chuck already destroyed one of his flash drives by plugging it into a customer's computer.
After I agreed and paid, they then told me that it wasn't done on the premises. They had to send the players to a cyber cafe in the mall where the music would be recorded to the devices. The Mall? Which is ten times worse than shopping downtown? Well, crap. I should have backed out then, but I still wanted the kids to have music, so I agreed to pick them up at the mall. They promised they would be ready by that afternoon.
I waited until the next morning to go and pick them up. There was no way I was going to face the mall alone, so Santiago went with me. We got an early start, since we had a few other errands to run, and Chuck had to have the truck back by noon to go to an appointment. We got our other errands completed and arrived at the mall at 10:00 when it opened.
We wandered around until we found the cyber cafe. I handed the girl behind the counter my claim tickets, and she handed me two bags. The first thing I noticed was that the claim tickets in the bags did not match mine. The second thing I noticed was that she handed me two MP4 players – video, and much pricier than my MP3 players. I had a hard time giving them back to her. She was done with me.
I finally explained what the problem was. She called the store, and Santiago went to get some ice cream. He is much more experienced at this than me, and he knew this wasn't going to be quick. I waited and waited. Finally, she tells us that the players are still at the original store. I look at my watch. We still have enough time to drive back over there and claim them. Never mind the music. Right then we just wanted some gifts for the kids. Besides, Santiago told me that another kind soul has set up a computer at the orphanage, so they do actually have a way to load their tunes.
We head all the way back downtown to the store. The girl behind the counter tells us that when the cyber cafe called, the owner grabbed the MP3 players and took them to the cyber cafe. They are now there being recorded with music. The packages have to be opened to record the music, so we couldn't just get two other MP3 players from the store and be done. My blood pressure is skyrocketing. I look at my watch. Chuck needs the truck in 10 minutes.
I quickly call Chuck and tell him the situation. He says no problem, go get the MP3 players, he'll call his client and postpone his appointment.
Back to the Mall we go. Now the mall had been open for two hours. The parking lot is completely full. The empty lot across the street is completely full. There is no place to put the truck. I want to scream.
Santiago knows I am a giant stress ball, so he leaps out of the truck and calls out, "keep circling!" as he bounds up the steps two at a time and disappears into the mall.
25 minutes later, Santiago reappears. He has the blasted MP3 players – with no music. The folks at the cyber cafe hadn't even looked at them yet. Neither of us really care at this point. We're just glad the orphans will have a gift to open. Which they will be doing at the Christmas party at Canuck's tonight. I am told it is a heartwarming sight that makes you remember what Christmas is all about. Maybe I'll see you there.