I had no clue it would feel like this....

Ahh, Christmas... The one time a year where commercialism is celebrated and encouraged. I'm just kidding ya, we live in America. Commercialism is celebrated and encouraged every freaking day here. Even used as a barometer of our communal success or failure in each individual year..

But notsomuch in my house.

We don't really do "big" purchases during the year. But, sometimes we do at Christmas...!

And this year? Well, this year I found myself at the busiest big blue box of them all, damn near running back to the electronics department after finding myself in a panic seeing multiple people walk out carrying the exact brown box I'd come for as I was walking into Sam Walton's playhouse.

So I grabbed a basket at the front of the store and I started running. Ran past the tweens looking at the peacoats on the edge of the women's clothing section. Ran past the ladies in full burqas looking at the fancy lingerie. (OK, I did slow down a bit at this sight that showed me that even women in full religious dress like to look a little fancy underneath, but not by much! No time, here, people! Must get brown box filled with delightful electronic!!!)

I ran to the electronics department in such a fury that the gravity of the purchase I was making didn't even have a chance to hit me. And then I got there. And it was glorious. Taking no time to debate my potential purchase, I grabbed the spider-wrapped box and placed it in my basket and then went straight to the registers out of fear that the 1 of only 3 boxes left that I'd grabbed might be snaked from my cart by some other deal-seeking Christmas shopper. (And before you scoff at this thought, I worked in retail at a different big blue box type store for most of my early adult life, and I've seen this happen before. Many times. What can I say? Best Buy had some insane holiday deals in the early 2000's...)

I made it through the registers in record time, even with a cashier-in-training who had a fit of a time with the spider wrap. Showed my receipt at the door.

And then it hit me: This was the first time I've ever bought a TV.

It's not that I haven't owned one before,.. Hell, I owned a 13 inch TV/VCR combo long before I could even drive... But, every TV I've ever had was either a gift or a hand-me-down from my dad when he upgraded his entire house to flat screen LCD and LED TVs.

And beyond that, I've never owned a TV larger than 20 inches. I've always had televisions that would fit perfectly in a dorm room. Or a studio apartment. Or a one-bedroom apartment that was roughly the size of my closet in my childhood bedroom. (Before you ask, no, I did not have an abnormally large closet, this was, however, an abnormally small apartment.)

In one purchase, I felt an immediate burst of adulthood that, even though I am officially on my second year of being 29, hadn't quite hit me before this moment.

I had purchased a TV. A big one, at that. With all sorts of bells and whistles. And with this feeling of adulthood came the knowledge that I didn't even have to wait til Christmas to unbox it and set it up if I wanted. And I think we all know where this story is going....

Yep. Looking at my Xbox Dashboard on it right now...........

Actual TV not pictured. Come on, like I could carry this thing by myself...?
(Image: Wikimedia)