Don's Toys

🛹

When I was in high school I worked at a toy store.
In the mall.
With my best friend, Kelli.

It was awesome!
We knew all the good toys and tried many of them when the store was slow.
It also had a custom skateboard shop. Super cool.

Remember when the first “Batman” movie came out? It’s where the world first heard the phrase, “I’m Batman.”

It was 1989, our senior year. Our store had a cart in the middle of the mall that we had to take turns manning as well. We called it “The Batcart.” It had tons of Batman movie merchandise.
Again…super cool.

As you can guess, Christmastime was the busiest for Don’s Toys.
Beginning in October, things just steadily ramped up and up and up. The frenzy culminated on Christmas Eve with customers lined up throughout the store, searching, waiting in line, sometimes begging for the “asked for” gift to magically appear after it had been sold out for weeks.

Our manager, Tad, was fun and good at his job.
He would take the letters of my name and rearrange them on the schedule sheet. Sometimes I was “Leektot.” Other times, “Telketo.”

Tad reserved a Nintendo Game Boy for my mom to come purchase. They were the hot item that year. No one could get their hands on one.
My little brother got one for Christmas. 👊🏻

I was home from BYU for the semester break. Working at Don’s Toys to help with the holiday craziness.
In 1989, Christmas fell on a Monday.
Which meant that Christmas Eve, the busiest day of the year at the store, was on Sunday.
I never worked Sundays.
I was a go to church and “keep the Sabbath Day holy” kind of girl. Plus, there were plenty of other employees who didn’t mind working Sundays. So, it was never a problem.

Until December of 1989.
When Christmas Eve, the “all hands on deck” day, was on a Sunday.

I can still see Tad walking up to me.
He asked, “Kolette, can you work Christmas Eve?”

My mind roared in anxiousness for a second.
I had never worked on a Sunday.
He had never asked me to.
Until now.

My mouth went dry.
I swallowed.
Knowing the burden of being a man down would place on everyone else, I timidly said, “I can’t.”
He nodded once and replied, “Ok.”

Maybe this could be a story about standing up for your beliefs and the power that comes from living your convictions.

But actually, the real hero of this story is Tad.
The guy who needed my help and asked for it.
Then respected beliefs that he did not share.
And walked away without doling out repercussions that he had every right to give.

Respect.
Tad is the real hero here. ✊🏻💙