Nativity

So I came home from buying things to make my cold better last night and I found a big box from QVC at my door. I haven't ordered anything from them; nor have I ever even watched a QVC program for more than 10 seconds. I wondered if perhaps a family member had taken up the habit.

I walked up to my door and moved the box aside so I could get in with my bags, then went back out for the box. I looked at the name and address, but only the address was mine. I do not know of a neighbor by the name of Matt.

I called the hoomeowners' association today and gave them the name on the box, but Janet (the office manager) didn't find a renter listed by that name. I decided that I would call QVC tonight once I got home.

I got home and putzed around with feeding the fur bellies, feeding myself, and watching TV and finally decided that I should really call about the box. So I dialed the 800 number on the packing envelope and got someone on the phone. She asked what was in the box and I said I hadn't opened it yet. She asked why not and I replied that it wasn't mine. (Is it really such a strange concept that a person might not want to open a package that she knows isn't hers?)

To try and figure out what was up with it, we started with the UPS tracking number which was visible in the window of the envelope. She read all of the tracking info to me, and I verified that the address was mine but I had no idea who Matt was. OK, open just the envelope and read the packing slip for an order number or member number. This revealed that the item was ordered by some family member of Matt's, but nothing about where it really should have gone. Since I've lived in this place since June, this family member is working with some pretty out-dated info.

The Customer Service Rep and I continued to discuss the issue, and she even managed to toss in a friendly "Well, why haven't you ever ordered from us before?", to which I replied that most of the time I can barely buy groceries. By the end of the conversation she had determined that the easiest thing to do was for me to keep the contents of the box because the person who ordered it would be calling any day now to find out why Matt hadn't received it, at which point QVC would promptly send a new one to the correct address.

The conversation continued and I decided to find out just what was in the box. A nativity, in ceramic, very similar to the nativity I grew up with at Mom and Dad's house. Only without hands that were chewed on by the mice living in the attic. The CSR and I decided that this is just more proof that everything happens for a reason. I told her I had lost the nativity my parents had given me when I was married, and that now I at least have one Christmas decoration (long story behind that one that I don't wish to share at the moment).

So Merry Christmas to me, I have a new nativity. Ra Ra Ree.