Good will.

Perhaps this is my flaw. I tend to think good of people. I think most people will do the right thing. They won't steal from others. They won't intentionally cause harm. They won't lie to one another to further their own agenda. I think people are inherently good.

Perhaps I'm wrong.

I know Greg is becoming slightly jaded after only a few months working within the federal court system, but I was holding out hope that I wouldn't get disheartened too.

Which brings me to my long winded point. Etsy. I love Etsy. I have bought several things from some incredible folks - and nary once had a problem. My last purchase was a set of 10 hair bows for Wren. 10 bows for $10 including shipping. I thought - what a deal. Yes, I could make them, but by the time I went to the store and bought 10 different colors of ribbon and the clips, found my hot glue gun etc -- I might as well just order the darn things. So I did. The nice seller lady in South Carolina sent me a tracking notice to track my shipment. A couple weeks went by and nothing was showing up -- it was as if my package got "stuck" in the system. I notified the seller and she apologized profusely and promised to look into it. A couple more weeks later still nothing and I contacted her again. She again apologized and offered to reship. I did get the second package (after I told her I would return the package if indeed two arrived at my doorstep) BUT instead of 10 bows, I only received 9. Oy. So... I emailed again and she apologized profusely again and said she'd resend the red bow along with something extra since she appreciated my patience. The original order was placed in mid-October. I logged on again just now at lunch to say -- hey, sorry to be a pain, but the red bow never made it. Well, it seems she's closed her Etsy shop and is no longer "in business". Sigh. So, while I'm happy I did get 9 out of 10 bows - I'm a wee bit peeved that she never sent the 10th. Why can't people just do the right thing? Is it really that hard to stick a 2 inch bow in an envelope and send it to me?

So, this holiday season - instead of moping about and seeing how evil people can be to one another, I'm going to make an extra effort to do good. I'm going to scrounge up some change and buy a gift to donate to the angel tree, I'm going to smile at people on the street and in the stores, I'm going to give extra hugs to my kids, I'm going to attempt to send Hanukkah/Christmas/New Years cards to my friends and family and let them know they're appreciated.

We could all use a little bit of good will.