Chocolate-covered guilt...

Tuesday, March 3rd was, according to Grace, Teddy's 3rd birthday. Who is Teddy you may be asking, well Teddy just happens to be the first stuffed animal Grace ever received. Matt and I bought it in preparation for her arrival into our world nearly 5 1/2 years ago. Which is one of the reasons I must pause to wonder how Teddy Bear years are calculated since Teddy (Grace's only male stuffed animal) should be the same age as Grace and yet he manages to be two years younger. But I digress...too much to think about and definitely not the point of this post. So in honor of Teddy's birthday, each of us were asked to present Teddy with a gift or card that we had made him, and then we had a Teddy Bear's picnic on the floor of the family room for dinner (considering it was cold & rainy outside, this was the best alternative to the real thing). The evening ended with a straw stuck in a Hostess cupcake for Teddy to blow out while we all sang Happy Birthday. It was lots of fun having dinner on a blanket in the family room--except when Claira discovered the Cheetos and became obsessed with taking a single bite of each one then moving on to the next unsuspecting Cheeto. Needless to say, her hands were a beautiful shade of orange by the time dinner was done.

Again, this entire story is not even the point of this post, but I had to share that little tidbit so that posterity will know that March 3rd is Teddy's birthday since there is no official documentation of this momentous occasion. So now to the point of the post...Let's rewind.

Monday night around 10 p.m., Matt went to take the trash out and found a very unexpected package on our front porch. He brought it inside asking what I had ordered (probably thinking about how he doesn't have a job any more so I really shouldn't be shopping on-line unless it is an absolute necessity. He didn't actually say these thoughts outloud, but I am sure he was thinking them). I looked at the box and saw it was from See's candy--now as much as I love See's candy, I know I didn't order anything from the said company. I mean I think we all know that if I was craving See's candy, which I do often, I would just drive myself down the street 10 minutes and pick some up at the store (I love having a store close-by). So upon further inspection of the package, we found that while the address was indeed our address, the name of the recipient was not us. This package of sweets was intended for one Yvette Mahoney. Well, we knew nobody by this name, but there was a local phone number listed for Yvette. So I decided to call her in the morning figuring the house number was incorrect, and I could deliver this package to its proper owner, who most likely lived in my neighborhood.

The following morning, I tried calling the phone number listed only to get the "this number has been disconnected" recording. So I called See's. I spoke with a very nice lady named Mary. I explained the situation to Mary, and she tried to figure out if there was an error with the address and such. It soon became evident that the sender of the chocolates had given See's the wrong address and contact information for Yvette. So guess what Mary said? She told me that what she wanted me to do was open up that box of chocolates and enjoy, and they would find out the correct address for the Mahoney's and send them a new box. I protested only once, but when she again insisted that I simply enjoy the chocolates, I accepted with secret delight. I opened the box and found a beautiful large (meaning 2 lb. worth) gold fancy box of chocolates--we are talking about a nearly $40 box of assorted sweets, and it was mine for FREE! Along with the candy was a note from the sender that said

"What says love, hugs & kisses more than chocolate?! Your family is in my heart & prayers. Love to all - Pam."

At this point, I started to wonder if maybe somebody had died or maybe they lost their job or they had their life savings invested with Bernie Madoff--the possibilities were endless. But there was no way of knowing, so I just decided to focus on my own good fortune and waited with excitement for Matt and Grace to return home so we could all enjoy the chocolate together. After Grace got home from school, I told her the story, and we opened the box to have some chocolate. We each ate a piece, and Grace tried at least 3 until she found one that suited her tastes. The others were returned to the box with a bite out of each one for daddy, since he will eat anything. The box was then put on the counter to be enjoyed later at my 10 p.m. snack-time.

So on Tuesday evening as we were finishing the celebration of Teddy's birthday, there was a knock on our door. Matt opened the door to find a man standing on our front porch. The man introduced himself as Frank Mahoney, and I immediately knew why this man was here. He said that they had received a phone call letting them know that a package from See's candy had been delivered to what was their old address. He said that they were the original owners of our townhouse but were now living just down the street. So then he asked if we had their package. I was so embarrassed as I sheepishly told him that the lady at See's had told us to enjoy the chocolates. I then went on to offer him the remainder of the box with the missing and half-eaten pieces. He declined and seemed a little miffed. Matt told him that See's said they would be sending him a new box and closed the door while telling him to enjoy his box of candy when it arrived. WOW! Who would have thought he would show up on our front porch asking for his wife's chocolate. Well, I was embarrassed but knew that I had done no wrong so I did enjoy a few pieces of candy for my 10 p.m. snack.

The next day, I called See's to make sure that the Mahoney's would indeed be getting a new box of candy. The lady at See's explained that since the problem with the address had not been their error, they would not pay the shipping to send a new box out to the Mahoney's. When she originally contacted them to let them know that they would need to pay the shipping for a new box, they said that they couldn't possibly afford to pay the shipping for the new box of candy. I was a little dismayed because I wondered how they couldn't afford a few dollars shipping first of all, but also felt a little bit guilty that I was enjoying their chocolate when they couldn't afford such a luxury themselves. The lady at See's assured me that I had done nothing wrong, and that I was indeed supposed to have opened the box to enjoy. She couldn't believe that Frank had shown up at our door asking for the candy either. She said that Pam (the sender) must have told him that she accidentally had it shipped to their previous address because See's wouldn't share that information with them. She assured me that Pam would be paying the shipping to send another box of candy to the Mahoney's (which they should have known so why did they show up on my doorstep knowing that another box would be coming soon???). She then ended the conversation by telling me that I should just continue to enjoy the candy...and guess what? I did!