There was a lot of nostalgia today. As tired as I am - eyes burning from fluorescent light, ears still ringing from droning Christmas music and clamoring shoppers, I have this sense of calm about the day...
Beyond the typical "Black Friday Asshats", who somehow forget the true spirit of the season when they moan endlessly - as if it's my fault, about being out of Motorola 22-Mile Radios, there were the faces of people shopping together - being together. I waited on fathers and sons - one buying his first firearm - the look in his eye, that sense of excitement, of bonding with his dad, was like calming medicine amidst the chaos.
A young couple waited patiently in the madness at the gun counter - their young daughter sandwiched in between them was leafing through a Christmas coloring book - glancing up occasionally and meeting me with a smile when I waved to her, as I loaded ammunition into a customers cart. When I finally got to them, the young couple greeted me - negating my apology for the wait with a simultaneous "no problem" and a thank you for getting to them. He was looking for a shotgun - a "cheap 20-gauge deer gun" - I had to deliver the news that there were none on the floor, but I'd check to see what I had in the back. I never really think about much when I open up the gun locker, but this time, I was just praying we had a 20ga Slugster in the pile - something to help this guy out. After a dig through the gun pile, all I could find was a Remington 870 Cantilever Scoped Deer Package and it was hardly a cheap gun. At $499.99, it seemed like a tough pill to swallow for a guy looking to "buy cheap", but I took it out anyway. As I turned the corner, the crowd behind the gun counter had swelled - a shopper cut me off and began rattling off questions about where bowling shoes were and continued to ramble - despite my repeated: "Team Sports is down that way" and "I have a customer mam". Slowly her droning faded as I approached the counter - apologetic again for the wait - negated again by their patience. As I laid the box across the counter, I said: "I'm not sure this qualifies as cheap, bit it's all I have left". I opened the box and pulled the olive green deer gun from it's packaging. His eyes lit up as I handed it to him. It was as if he was sliding into the bucket seat of a new sports car. As I was explaining the features to him, his daughter looked on, while his wife discreetly peered at the price tag on the box, then thumbed through the cash in her wallet. He looked at me, then her, and said: "Hun, I think I want this gun". "Really?", she replied, "but you're generally so cheap hun, I think it's great, lets get it". He asked me if I could hang onto the gun for him and of course I said: "Absolutely, it will be right here", as I slid the gun back into its box and tucked it behind the counter. The three of them huddled near the gun safes for a minute as I wandered back to help a customer with ammo. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shaking his head "no" - as if to say, "it's no big deal". She seemed more insistent - as if trying to convince him he deserved it. She broke from the conversation, approached the gun counter and said: "We'll be right back" - and they were. A few minutes later, I spotted them again - they locked on me like a laser beam and pushed through the throngs toward the glass case. He was beaming - she was clutching a credit approval. "We'll take it", was all it took for me to disengage from the counter and scurry the Remington back into the gun room for a scope mount and bore sight. I think I was as excited as they were - the crowd noise and Christmas music disappeared as I watched another associate set them up with paperwork and I disappeared into the tech room. I take pride in setting up guns for customers in general, but this one felt different - special. I mounted the scope, dropped in the laser and made adjustments as if my life depended on it. I then went over every square inch with a silicone cloth until the gun was just spotless. When I returned to the counter, his paperwork was wrapping up. I interrupted the process, to make sure his eye relief was perfect and go over a few things about the gun. His wife stood behind him excited by all the attention he was getting, his daughter grabbed a peppermint candy from a bowl I had set out on the counter earlier in the day. As I put the gun back in the box, I couldn't help but to congratulate him on his purchase. "It's nice to see a nice gun, go to a good home", I said, while jokingly wiping an imaginary tear from my eye. "Another one leaves the nest" I said, feigning a sniffle and cracking a grin to the curious puzzlement of the little girl. I shook his hand as he thanked me, but it was them who deserved the thanks. I departed from The Lodge, took my first break in 7-hours and choked down some lukewarm pizza, warmed by and thankful for the spirit of Christmas that young family brought to me, amidst the chaos of the clamoring bargain hunters....