On
the tree lot, we have cuttings from the bottoms of sold trees. We make some of the branches into
wreaths. The rest we pile up and away
from the sale’s tent. Some people come
by and ask for our debris to make their own wreaths, garland, and crafts; some
of them never purchased a tree from us.
A
couple days ago, an elderly man pulled up near our pile. He barely tumbled out of his car using a
cane. All hunched over, he wobbled to
the pine branches. I observed his
actions noticing he wanted some of our limbs.
Being busy with a customer, pointing towards our junk pile, I motioned
and summoned my spouse to that area. The
physically slow man had one limb in hand and his cane in the other by time my
hubby arrived. Realizing the goal, my
husband asked how much the man wanted and helped him load his trunk faster as
well as with our fresher cuts. The
‘depression era’ guy reached in his pocket handing his helper three quarters.
That
same day, my son-in-law tried to sell a very old woman a $15 table top
tree. The lady bargained with him for
twenty or so minutes budging $1 per offer.
Stalemated at $13 versus $10, she left promising to be back if other
lots in the area rejected her bidding style.
Exhausted from being kind, the young man told us his tale.
“You
should have just given her the tree for her amount,” His wife declared.
“Why?”
“Out
of goodwill!” I added.
“No
one leaves without a tree!” My hubby
added.
Hours
later, as promised, the elderly soul returned.
“What will it take to make you happy and get a tree in your house?” The young man asked that soul.
“I
have $10 to spend!”
“Sold!”
He ended the banter faster.
The
lady stood asking the teenager, who worked sawing fresh trunk cuts and pruning
her tree’s bottom, question after question.
She stood for a good time making her $10 change and conversation with
her cashier, my daughter. Returning to
my son-in-law, she asked about next year and her tree possibilities for that
occasion.
My
husband and I took our dinner break while the old woman was there the second
time. Our relative filled us in on the
outcome, “She wanted to know the name of the lot. That old lady reminded me that she came back
as promised. She seemed happy with her
tree selection, FINALLY!” He felt a bit
exasperated by that ordeal or sale.
As
the three souls involved with that elderly soul retold their adventures with
her during that same conversation, my explanation and exclamation occurred,
“Awe! She’s lonesome. That old lady came for conversation and
interaction- not just a tree!”
“Yeah,
that’s what I thought,” My daughter declared.
“She’s just a lonely soul looking for someone to talk to…”
A
couple days later, in the pouring rain during a windy spell, a group of four
people drove from two towns away to visit our lot. They wanted a small tree due to their
budget. We had a sale going on with
trees from our showroom drastically reduced to make way for more of them from
our back piles. The group went from a
six foot to a nine foot with a big enough reduction in price that they could,
also, afford a new tree stand. As these
customers checked out, one of the girls asked about the trimmings from her tree
and who owned them.
“You
can have as much as you like. In fact,
if I give you a big garbage bag, will you fill it taking a bunch of our fresh,
tree trash away?”
They
were excited! As they filled the bag to
the brim, they talked about crafting and making money off our clippings. “I hope you earn the cost of that tree back
with your crafts. Merry Christmas!” My voice chimed in with a smile as they left.
I
know the tree lot down the street is nearly sold out. We aren’t.
However, at least, we haven’t sold out to commercialism and greed-
either. My husband has three quarters in
his pocket, a lady has a table top tree in her home, and I have this story to
prove it! Remember this holiday is about giving more than it is about receiving.
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