Second-Hand Love

We shopped at our local thrift store this morning, looking for some Halloween accoutrements. I hadn't been to a Deseret Industries in several years and had forgotten what a lot of neat stuff they recycle. I had to remind myself I was shopping for costumes, not real clothes, or I'd have bought a whole lot more than planned.

As it was, we did purchase a couple of unplanned items for the kiddo. I thought, "We're here in the land of the cheapest toys on earth. I'll let Bridgette pick out a stuffed animal."

So we maneuvered through a lot of other moms who had the same idea, looking at the oodles and oodles of stuffed bears of all sizes and colors, dolls, giraffes, and...

"Mmm! Mmm!" Bridgette says to me, pointing directly and determinedly.

"Really?" I say. "That's what you want?"

She was sure. I handed her a little stuffed pear with swinging legs and bright red shoes. She hugged it close and beamed for a moment before pointing to its sibling. We couldn't leave it behind. Cuddling them both tightly, we proceeded to the kitchen aisles to look for a pastry cutter.

Well, we didn't find one, but of a sudden babe points again, grunting most emphatically. Sure enough, out of place amongst the teacups and saucers is this little action figure. I picked it up and checked his price-tag. For $0.50? Alright then, three toys total.

First she tried to pull his head off, uttering, "Uck. Uck." When I carefully explained that his head was supposed to be "stuck," that's the way heads come, she changed tack. She put his head to her ear, his feet to her mouth and began to chat on the phone. Fine by me. For $0.50 we got an action figure and a phone. What a deal.

Little did I know.

We got to the the checkout counter, and the woman at the register says, "Naruto!"

I looked politely puzzled.

"Hey look," she says, taking him over to the next aisle's checkout lady.

"Naruto!" she exclaims. "I didn't know he was over there. How much?"

"This lady is buying him," our register-woman says.

"Yes," I say, "I'm buying him." That's right. Three minutes earlier I'd never heard of Naruto, but I'm suddenly feeling possessive.

"Oh," says register-woman-two in a most dejected manner.

I feel the need to explain, so I don't seem like a total heel.

"It's my daughter's. She picked him out."

To my surprise, register-woman-two puts hands to prayer position and bows to my baby, stating something about a good choice and wisdom.

I forgot his name by the time we arrived home, so first I Googled "Anime names A-Z" then turned to Wikipedia to learn about Naruto. It appears Naruto Uzumaki is the star of his own Manga series, called Naruto. Those of you who know this are rolling your eyes.

And in case you wondered if I truly am a heel, the answer is yes. I've already looked up "Naruto action figure" to see what he's worth on eBay.

Ends up he's worth about $0.50... for now...