Friends are important. I’ve often seen the Facebook memes that talk about good friends versus great friends. A good friend will visit you in jail, but a great friend will be sitting beside you in the cell. Well, my friends and I are law-abiding citizens, but they still go above and beyond.
My bestie and I went shopping on Black Friday. Our first stop was Walmart where I wanted to buy my husband’s Christmas present. I knew it was a sizable item, but I was confident it would fit in her car. I didn’t realize the amount of trouble involved in that one gift.
We located the item in the store without much difficulty. We rearranged the things in our cart to accommodate it. Then we struggled to remove the massive box from the stack of other massive boxes so high that it rivaled me in height. An employee approached us and offered assistance, which we readily accepted. He lifted the huge box by himself and gently placed in our cart without showing any signs of exertion.
We continued on our merry way and filled our cart with a variety of gifts and goodies. We checked out with confidence. When the cashier asked if we needed help out, we both shook our heads. My bestie said, “I think we can handle this ourselves.” The young associate had made it look easy, so we were sure we could maneuver it with ease, too.
We lived to regret that arrogance. We wheeled our overflowing cart to my bestie’s car, popped the trunk, and hefted the incredibly long and heavy box. We were dismayed to find that it wouldn’t fit in her trunk. We wrestled it back into the cart to reassess our options.
Being the amazing friend she is, my bestie whipped open the rear doors of her car and the two of us lifted, pushed, strained, and maybe let a curse or two slip free. We managed to get the item in the backseat where we were relieved to find it fit with two inches to spare.
I was concerned that someone would see it through the windows and want to steal it because it’s an expensive item. When I told her I would go back inside to buy a blanket to cover it, she smiled at me. “I have a blanket in trunk. If it’s not big enough, I have two sunshades. I’ve got you covered.”
She got busy covering the huge box in the backseat while I loaded everything else into the trunk. Once finished, we stood back to admire her handiwork. The blanket she used was a dark color and her windows were tinted, so no one could see the gigantic box filling her backseat. We felt comfortable enough to continue our shopping quest.
We collapsed into the front seat and took a moment to catch our breath. Then she turned to me. She asked me something that made my blood run cold. “How are you going to get it into the house without Jim seeing it since he’s home? Where are you going to hide it once you do get it inside?”
I hadn’t thought things through. I was so focused on buying this one particular monstrosity that I hadn’t considered the logistics. I stared at her with my mouth hanging open in horror for a few seconds. Then I shook my head and told her I’d figure something out.
Throughout the rest of the day I pieced together a plan. I blurted out random thoughts as they occurred to me. My bestie added her thoughts, and a beautiful plan formed. By the time we arrived at my house, it was time for Jim to get ready for work. I told him he needed to get in the shower because traffic was really bad that afternoon. He agreed, which gave us enough time to lug my gargantuan purchase into the house, clear its hiding spot of everything that was stored there, and shove it into place. Then I camouflaged it, so no one would be able see it.
A good friend would have helped me load the item in the car and may even have helped me lug that ridiculous box into the house. Only a great friend would help me clean out a super secret hiding place while keeping watch to make sure we weren’t caught.
I’m blessed to have such a great friend in my life. She fills in the blanks of my wild ideas. Black Friday shopping isn’t the same as going to jail, but it’s still an adventure. Only a great friend could make all of the little obstacles so enjoyable. Thank you for reading Ozarks Maven! If you’ve enjoyed my little seeds of wisdom and joy, please subscribe to Ozarks Maven, Like Ozarks Maven on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter @OzarksMaven.
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