Post-Christmas Returns

Given the media frenzy surrounding the mother who put her adoptive son back on a plane bound for Moscow - it would appear that this is a case that stands out because it is so exceptional.  Instead, it seems to be part of a sickening trend...
Here is my blog entry from last Christmas:

Pure bliss. Almost as good as receiving the presents, going back to the stores post-Christmas for painless returns and exchanges is something that, when you’ve been so long without, you almost forget how carefree it could be. Like riding a bicycle. I actually returned items at a different store from which I had purchased them! Some of the items, I boldly took home simply to try on, and then brought them back when they didn’t quite fit!
I was getting an actual adrenalin rush from this tempting of fate…pushing the envelope one bit further. I swore to the cashier that I saw the $29.99 hand blender on sale for $19.99 – so they said, ‘Fine – we’ll give you that price”! And for a moment I was haggling with the market vendors back at Porta Portese - but for a shiny new item instead.
But no, when the store didn’t have the right size (still) for my niece, they apologized – apologized! – and said they’d drop it in the mail straight to her…no shipping fees.

It would appear the long arm of the returns culture has America firmly in its grip. After not being able to return a purse I had purchased 30 minutes before, or train tickets that I discovered were for the wrong date, well I thought, could you have too much of a good thing? Apparently so.

While listening to my cool Soul radio station 24/7 in Detroit, I heard an absolutely atrocious story (and they weren’t talking about the Nigerian who wanted to blow up a plane over Detroit):

People were actually debating the pros & cons of returning their adopted children.

After going through the arduous process of adoption (and the even more arduous process of raising your child), it would appear that some people have found themselves with incorrigible kids, or parenthood too taxing, or whatever it is that didn’t go right. As if non-adoptive families had it any easier.

Their solution? They returned the kids. One woman actually had the nerve to call in and say she was not fully prepared to handle a special needs child - blaming the system, I might add – ‘they didn’t tell her what it involved’ (as if while deciding to bring into your home a severely disabled child -- you couldn’t quite grasp what that might entail), and so she returned her child. Later having second thoughts (just like me and the floor mat I bought at Kohl's), she then proceeded to try and get her back.
She cooly remarked, with some degree of disbelief, “They refused to give her back to me!” I for one could not believe my ears.

I wonder if in the future, they will start asking for a money back guarantee – good for three years with proof of purchase.