49 Herald & Lantern 19 December '84 — %

Spending Doesn't Do It

Snow Brings Yule Spirit i

By E. J. riUFFY The first snowfall of the season always gets you into the spirit. At least that's what you tell yourself and everyone else. But it's checkbook withdraws you itemize in the vapor of your windshield — not trees and holly — as you wait in the backed-up traffic around the shopping mall. Erasing the calculations to see if the light has changed 15 cars lengths ahead, you become uncomfortable from the bulging wallet in your jeans. You shift to give it more room in the seat. Ten minutes later, you're only six car lengths from the left turn lane when the fine white powder starts to cover the hood of your car. You barely notice — too busy shifting through the ad supplement on the front seat. / Finally, you're in the mall parking lot and maneuvering for a space only 12 sVts from the main entrance, ynside the car you swap copses, and outside drivers' licenses, with another motorist who was backing out as you wo* pulling in. JOINT JUMPS ON the

bumpers free the interlocked door handles and the two of you from one another. The minor collision is not enough to dampen your holiday spirits as you tuck the license under the credit cards in your billfold, ignore the white precipitation and dodge fellow travelers on your holiday shopping spree. Within the mall, you also ignore the smaller shops competing for your time and head straight to the department store. A trip to the perfume counter will take care of three people oq your gift list. Besides, the scents of all those fragrances always makes your spirits soar. They also make you sneeze; which -you do without the aid of a hankie. "Can I help you?" the gorgeous counter person asks icily as she wipes off her designer sweater. "No," you mumble, belatedly locating your handkerchief and abandoning plans to small talk Miss L'Air du Temps into lunch. In penance, you skip the meal to get the shopping done. Many hours later you finish buying presents for nearly everyone on your list and treat yourself to

dinner. Feeling quite pleas- I ed with yourself, you sip i the last of your Mateus over dessert and leave a ] generous tip for the waiter. i The wine made you j mellow. „ T H E M A L L . RESTAURANT is closing as you pay the check with the last of your cash, put on coat and gloves, pick up your parcels and head down the aisle for the main entrance. Overhead, the twinkling trees and holly make you blink as you casually brush the front pocket of your jeans for the rr-ssuring lump of car klys. It isn't there; they aren't there! Your lip6 form a silent "0." During the parking lot melee, you forgot to take the keys out of the ignition. No big deal, you think; you'll just call home. Taking off the gloves, you fish through all the pockets in your coat, jeans and shirt for a dime but come up empty. A voice from the public address system says something about . .heaviest in the history1 of. . ." but you're too busy kneeling in the main isle, rummaging through shopping bags, looking for change that might have spilled into them at checkout registers. No such luck. You remember that coin that's been forming an impression in the leather of your wallet since last Christmas, and pull out the billfold to retrieve it. A pair of attractive legs approach; they stop. The coin emerges as a penny. "CAN YOU LOAN ME a dime?" you ask the legs. "No," replies Miss L'Air du Temps, unconsciously wipping her sweater. She walks away and sits on a bench. "It won't do you any good. . she adds over her shoulder. Your thoughts muffle the rest her reply. "A hanger!" you think, beginning another search through the shopping bags. "I can get the car door open with a hanger." • But, all the hangers on ' your holiday purchases are I plastic. You're nevertheless determined to try

the hanger scheme anyway. "A "watch these for me, please" involuntarily contracts the mall security guy for the few minutes it will take him to safeguard your gifts while you blow the plastic hanger attempt. '•You can't go anywhere. . he complains as you round a corner and run toward the main entrance, sheepishly looking over your shoulder and waving the plastic hanger at him. A cold gust wakes you to reality when you push through the double doors. Your lip6 form another self-effacing "O" as you stare at nearly three-feet of very heavy precipitation. The "O" melts to a smile. You recall the light snow falling as you arrived at the mall, the hours you spent spending there and the fragmented a n - nouncements you were too busy to heed. Without a dime to your name but at least that smile, you turn to join Miss L'Air du Temps and the others stranded at the mall. They smile back — without comment on your escape routine. The first snowfall really is beautiful, you conclude. And it really is snowing, not spending, that gets you into the spirit. (ED. NOTE. HeraldLantern reporter Duffy lives in Sea Isle City.)

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Computer Readings FOLSOM - South Jersey Gas Company's 38 meter readers are now operating hand-held microcomputers to record the monthly natural gas usage of the utility's 162,000 area customers. The 2 12 pound instruments replace the system of recording customer meter information in books containing paper documents. Until now, South Jersey Gas meter readers carried > hundreds of paper cards ^ each day to document customer gas use. * "The microcomputers, S known as DataCaps, allow ^ our meter readers to make > their daily rounds more ef- * ficiently," explained V William F. Ryan, president 4 of South Jersey Gas.

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