the other day i braved the masses and headed over to toys r' us.

typically, tru in hong kong follows along the same theory as hong kong grocery shops. small aisles, unfathomable turns, etc. the north american counterparts are wide-aisled and lovely, even during the Christmas season, i am confident.

while standing in line i noticed a very small sign that i might have not read had i not been trained by frugal blake to sight this word from 50 metres: FREE.

what was free? i panicked, wondering if it was worth losing my place in the queue in order to grab a bargain, a free bargain i might have missed. trying to catch the eye of a hapless salesperson who would do my bidding.

on closer inspection, the sign read, "free giftwrapping, second floor."

well, hello dolly!

i scuppered up to the second floor with my purchases, a smile on my face. free giftwrapping! tra la la la la...good tidings we bring to you and your king.....and stopped.

although there was room for three gift wrappers, there was only one at the gift wrapping counter. and the lineup was four deep. there were three businessmen, one in a very nice cashmere coat, and one woman, all holding a bag in each hand.

the girl (a tru employee but there was a bucket where you could donate to unicef) was taping herself into a frenzy. good thing frugal blake wasn't there to wince over the excessive tape she was using. "oh the waste" i could hear him muttering.

what stunned me was that in hong kong, this city of time is worth more than money...these people were willing to stand in line, when there were many places available, and wait while one person did their wrapping. especially this poor cello tape wielding girl, who looked harried and frantic and who could blame her?

perenially strapped for time tess...was i willing to wait? when for a person to do a job i very well could do?

i think not. i was only in it for the free wrapping paper!

i didn't have anywhere i had to be THAT minute...but i mean seriously. who is going to wait in line for an amateur gift wrapper to wrap your gifts when you can do it yourself.

i moved behind the counter, shrugged off my jacket, and started pulling my gifts out of the bag. the people in line observed me, but not one of them had an issue, or objected to me jumping the queue as it were. because i was doing the work myself.

i pulled nice crisp corners and taped them tightly.

flipped them over. another small tap of tape.

cello girl next to me looked at my masterpiece.

i started off with an easy, rectangular one to get me in my groove, then started in on one of the toughies.

no problem, i was cruising. not using surplus paper, eyeing the corners correctly...yes this was a good wrapping experience. 

another person came along, saw the tru employee and me, put two and two together to make a very neat four and took the next space and started in on her purchases. the people in the queue again had no truck with this.

i finished wrapping, stuffed some cash into the unicef container and then caught the bus home.

i was out of there faster than three of the four business people who had originally been ahead of me in line. and as i was leaving...one of the men brought his purchases over to me and asked if i would wrap them! "it's for charity!" he said with a smile.

worth mentioning: i always give the kids a container of cello tape each in their stockings. its a great gift. they like it almost as much as they like their m&m's.

Comments

[courtney]

But did you wrap his presents????

[tess]

i did not.

if he was in a hurry, he would have wrapped his own presents. if you're smart enough to do a half windsor tie, you're smart enough to wrap presents.

the donations were voluntary. he was just lazy. when there was an empty table he could have wrapped them himself.

[polly]

brilliant!

toys r us here in the states is a nightmare, at least in our city. the only section i can tolerate is the baby section, because of all the pastels. every other area of the store makes me feel terribly hemmed in.

right you are about tying a windsor tie!!

[Dad aka Granddad Blake]

I'm so proud!

Love to all......Dad

[joeinvegas]

Might you have applied for a part time wrapping job there?
Love the tape for Christmas idea. You discussed it last year, and it does seem like something the kids would enjoy.