With my child's permission: a positive experience.

'How You Did': A Boy's Birthday Wish Fulfilled...

A First-Time Response to a Regular Request

At the bottom of receipts is often a feedback request, sometimes with an incentive for participation. Have missed out on many 'sweepstakes entries' by either forgetting or not enough time. This one warranted an answer.

This one was for a survey; there was nowhere to place this review, which is deserved on the part of the employees present the last weekend of my child's birthday month.

It was expected to write this content in duplicate to an appropriate place on the feedback site, though the boxes in the survey didn't seem quite right for this little story. We hope the staff eventually is rewarded for exceptional service: something I had no expectations of from a group of 'older kids' working on a weekend 'beach day'. For the low expectations, I apologize.

Had my son not had a fever the day before which carried over into that morning, he would have been playing baseball. He had wanted the same thing since the winter holidays: a portable game system.

'Life happened' over those six months, and baseball season took almost all of our weekend hours, to a point where just getting out to shop for the occasion of his birthday became an obstacle. For what was no small amount of money, I wanted to make sure that this was his first choice when the moment finally arrived.

"You didn't get me a birthday present, Mom." were words that stung at the heart when even the weekend that followed his actual birthday didn't render an opportunity to get to the right store following yet another baseball game and get all of the other unavoidable chores done. I wanted him to be present to pick out exactly what he wanted, not pick up what I thought was the right thing for the day, only to have to go back for an exchange.

He got to pitch for the first time this season; having run out of rain dates, the last game he participated in was in a downpour (which likely contributed to his low immunity by week's end). All of this 'game proficiency excitement' provided a distraction between that special birthday and the time that followed, though every extra day that passed ate at us both, in different ways.

On a day before the weekend he said again how he 'really wanted' the system, with that heart-wrenching, half-wincing look on his face as if it may not be possible, after so long. In that moment I showed him what I had just printed out from the computer: the current most valuable U.S. coins. After years and for the first time, his sealed bank was full enough to break for the occasion, and I wanted to make sure what survived, if at all, was keeping aside any coins that showed up on the list.

The next day he wasn't able to go to school, and pushed a little hard on the last day of school to be able to participate. The next morning, still with a low fever, knowing going to the game was not an option, the first words out of his mouth upon waking was the hopeful 'little' question: "Can we get it today?" Before he could see me, I winced this time, not really knowing how much was in that bank, wanting as much to have the answer he so deserved. "It's possible," I said.

Was so intent on the task at hand until it was done that I practially didn't notice that I hadn't made coffee for myself (incredibly) before picking up the very heavy bank and heading for a place to break it: our concrete 'mini-patio' at our back door, though not without a special boy's request to hold it to feel how heavy it was for himself. After getting a good feel for its weight he willfully handed it back to me and followed me into the kitchen, where I proceeded to lower the purple dinosaur bank into a plastic bag so that once dropped the coins wouldn't go flying everywhere, as he assisted in eager anticipation.

This could not have been put off another day; that the coins were not so much to the top so as that the pressure of the drop would immediately cause it to crack upon impact was not quite the case, so after a few tries, with the birthday boy making the first two throws from the stepladder, then handing it off to me to finish the job, after a couple more tries he instructed me to deploy the hammer, which did the trick. A couple of hours later, as we sat in the pleasant temperatures of an early summer day in our 'back yard', the necessary amount was divided into clear plastic bags by coin type and prepared for transport. I wanted to keep the ones with his birthday year that I had made a point of carefully including in the almost daily 'bank deposit' over time; my son insisted they go with the rest. After all, they weren't on 'the list'.

What I didn't share was how unlikely a business was inclined to take 'cash' this way; I was half-prepared and dreading the possibility of our 'legal tender' being refused, or at least negotiated with considerable effort that I was not looking forward to incurring, though was bracing myself to be very persuasively assertive on behalf of my child, whose birthday had passed without a 'real' present from me, who had a fever.

To dilute all potential outcomes, I prepared my young flush-faced (whether fever or anticipation was indistinguishable now) son for the possibility that the actual item he was looking for may not be at the location that was our destination, and not to raise his expectations to a level that would set him up for disappointment. We at least had what we needed; what we might not have was enough time to go elsewhere if the thing itself was not at this store.

Thirteen sandwich bags, equal amounts in each, were placed in the same heavy grade plastic FAO Schwartz bag we got when we made it out an earlier weekend as an early celebration in anticipation of his upcoming special day (with a couple of special token gifts for the occasion). With the lot hoisted into our weekend backpack, we made one stop to the library to return books and attempt to register the giftcard his aunt and grandmother had sent for his birthday that would make up the balance and perhaps allow for an accessory or two. After a frustrating too many minutes online, I resolved that beyond online purchases, a simple swipe should be sufficient, as somehow some portion of the very personal information was being rejected, which I had very uncomfortably and reluctantly entered more than once. All giftcards are not created equal, though I knew from experience that store purchases did not always require registration. This only added to my secret anxiety about the upcoming pending transaction.

"How many more minutes till we get there, Mom?", was asked three times as the bus neared the mall. I answered him each time to his satisfaction, until just a few minutes before arriving at the stop. After visiting the pet store and puppies across the hall, we entered the store.

We asked about the system (they had both new and used), and the pros and cons of purchasing new as opposed to the latter. One young man brought out two used units for my son to examine as one eye remained on the available game shelf that we were standing beside.

Following a short discussion and a very informed sales-oriented information session on the part of the young man, my son decided to follow the suggested advice and acquire the used though latest model that would also allow for the purchase of a game and an outer case. The incentive was that a full refund was an option within a week, whereas if he didn't like it after having purchased it new, it could not be returned at that value once opened.

Once his decision was made, my son quickly returned his attention to the game rack, knowing I would take care of 'the rest'.

Fortunately, the desk that the young man returned to was out of earshot from where my son continued to browse. With as much optimism and confidence as I could muster, I requested a manager (who was identified as standing closeby), then proceeded to explain our form of payment. Two (young) managers were in fact behind the desk, with two different answers. The second contradicted the first in the affirmative. Before the first manager could utter any protest, I quickly responded with "Great!", then returned to my son to help him with his case and game choices.

The first hurdle was cleared; no full breaths were taken so long as the card issue hung in the balance. It was not presented until each bag was re-checked by several staff behind the desk as having the amount stated, one coin at a time. Fortunately again, we had arrived in the lull of a 'beach day', when the store was not as busy as we had encountered many times before.

When the last coin was counted and the amount matched, it was time for the balance; I handed over the card, knowing even this young manager had experience in these situations. After a few attempts, showing little frustration, the manager who didn't want to take our money rather calmly helped in the steps necessary to make the card work, asking for what was needed (which I had) and dialing the right number to get a live person, in the Phillipines (yes, I asked). With the cordless in hand, wandering around the store as other business was tended to, it was less painful to give the same personal information under my breath so those around couldn't hear; it was finally 'the home stretch', as my son waited almost patiently by the demos in the front of the store.

Just a minute or two later, the receipt rolled out of the machine. The transaction was complete. The long awaited and much anticipated birthday choice was now my son's property. He was the proud owner of his long awaited system, which he continued to say almost incredulously into the next day, as TV was ignored over his new (used) high-resolution game that made his other player seem, well, 'less-than'. There was almost no comparison; the latter was not removed from his school bag the entire weekend.

Had the staff at this store responded as I was hoping they would not, it would have been a very different day indeed. My thanks and gratitude go out to these kids who surpassed my expectations; they deserve more than a few extra compliments from 'higher-ups'. With so many kids like them who have jobs at the same level who choose to behave 'as expected', those who go beyond that merit recognition by their superiors in the presence of their peers. In doing so, there's a higher probability that a little boy who was able to have his special birthday shopping trip go as was planned in his mind witness what older kids can do that he can choose to carry on, as opposed to something else that's all too common.

And not only this little boy, for whom I'm grateful. For many other children as well. Some moments that others forget quickly remain unforgettable to a child forever. My thanks for this day turning out the way it did. It was a team effort, and everyone stepped up to the plate. Congratulations; we'll be back.