27. Christmas At WalMart

On a happier note, another trip we took to Phoenix, Arizona with Jeannie and Paul turned out much better than that cold November ride the results of which are related in another part of this tome. Naturally, a trip to the local Wal-Mart must be worked in.

On one memorable visit, a small boy who was lost saw me and yelled, “Grampaw!” Running over to me, he grabbed my hand before he realized that I was not the Grampaw he wanted. But since he was lost, any Grampaw was better than no Grampaw! And he did not turn loose of my hand either. Any old guy with gray hair was all right with him. For now anyway.

With great big eyes, he just looked up at me, anticipating that I would fix his problem. I asked him if he was looking for his mommy and...yep; that was it. Mommy had gotten lost! So we toured the store a lane at a time till we finally found Mommy. He was really glad to see her again.

Anyway, back to the story. We had gone to this particular Wal-Mart for water, snacks and track side goodies when I spied all these cute little stuffed animals. These tiny fellows, when squeezed, would sing a little song, moo, honk, bark, meow, oink, cackle, and tell short stories! They were cute.

Tentatively, I squeezed one to see what it would do. The results were encouraging. I squeezed another, and another, and yet another, listening to the resultant cacophony with great delight. Where were these wonderful toys when I was a little hellion?

Then I got a great idea! What would happen if I squeezed all of them as fast as I could and listened to the combined chorus of voices? What happens is a severe looking little old lady rushes to the scene, and with an attitude reserved for recalcitrant schoolboys asks bitingly, “May I help you, sir?”

Smiling hugely, I said, “Yes, ma’am! If you’ll squeeze that bunch down there, I’ll squeeze all these up here at the same time. We’ll have fun!”

Moments later, I found myself out on the street, little pink ears ringing with the order, “Get out and stay out!” as shouted by the big, ugly, security guard!

I really have a good time at Wally World!