The holidays are upon us and many Hernando residents are finishing up with last minute shopping, I know this because I am one of them! I received an e-mail from a young couple with three children in South Carolina the other day. In this e-mail the young woman stated that the financial difficulties across the nation have struck them hard. Her husband had lost his job and they have found themselves without any financial means to buy Christmas gifts for their children. She was wondering if I knew of any groups that would be able to help her and stated that she had signed up for the gift registry at Walmart in South Carolina. It was then I knew I would have to put on my battle gear and head out to Walmart to help these people in need.

So, yesterday I woke up regretting the trip to Walmart that I knew that I would be making, understanding that the parking lots would be full, the lines would be long and the people would be irritable. When I pulled into the parking lot of the Super Walmart on SR 50 in Hernando County, I noticed the full parking lot and sighed in despair, the line of cars leading into the parking lot were backed up all the way into the next shopping plaza! I realized if I was going to survive this shopping experience I was going to have to change my mindset and accept the fact that I wasn’t in a hurry, I HAD to go into the store and I should just make the best of it.

Much to my surprise and joy, I found a parking spot four spots from the front door! I even double checked to make certain that I was not in a handicap spot, as the reality that I didn’t have to park 10 blocks away was almost surreal. I went into the store knowing that I needed to go directly to customer service to ask questions about the gift registry. I walked past the Customer Service line that protruded all the way out to the registers and filled up my water jugs for the house. By the time I was finished I walked back to the line only to notice that everyone was gone and I was the first in line! No waiting! I looked around again wondering where the camera’s hiding; first…a close parking spot? then…no waiting? Something had to be up. The lady behind the counter was more than helpful, she took time away from the counter to walk me to the Gift Registry area by the jewelry section and helped me print out the information that I needed. She then wished me a Happy Holiday and went on her merry way…smiling! Looking for the hidden cameras again; I figured that must have just been a fluke and cautiously continued on to the boy’s clothing department.

I began looking at my gift registry print out and realized that this was not going to be an easy task. The items were all listed by UPC code! How in the world was I ever going to find a Blk T lion sht med UPC code 45789656623? I proceeded with caution to the next sales clerk in the boys clothing department and asked if there was an easy way to find these items. The woman looked at me, smiled and said “Sure, follow me.” She then took me from tee shirt to hoodie and spent a good 30 minutes of her precious holiday time actually shopping with me! When we were done with the boys items, it was time to proceed into the girls clothing department. She radioed the sales clerk that took care of the Miley Cyrus clothing line and both of these incredible ladies took me by the hand and shopped with me for another 30 minutes!

I was able to finish my shopping for the couple in South Carolina in no time flat, thanks to the wonderful sales clerks at the Brooksville Walmart on SR 50, and for the first time in my life I left a Walmart in December whistling “Deck the Halls.”

I’m still looking for the cameras…