KAREN had come to Guyana on holiday to enjoy Mashramani.
“What’s your plans?”  I enquired. “To check out town to get everything I want for Mash.” She smiled in delighted anticipation of going on one of her famous shopping sprees.   She was visiting home after seventeen years.
At age six, she had migrated to the USA. She did well in school and college, and graduated from university with a degree in Civil engineering. She was here to have some fun.
Her shopping sprees had forced her rich dad to hide all his credit cards. Even his deep pockets felt the brunt of her wild buying. Whenever she announced that she was going shopping, her father would vanish, and his cell phone would be on voicemail until the stores closed. Her smaller sister would attach herself to Karen on these occasions, sure she would get more than she wanted.
Her present job was a very good one, and she had lots of money at her disposal. She zeroed in on credit cards, and made them her constant companion. Now she was about to go crazy in Georgetown.
Not wanting to incur the wrath of my sister in New York for encouraging her daughter to behave in an unacceptable manner, I tried to caution her about spending. “Just make sure you get only those things you need.”
She grinned. “When I go shopping, Uncle Sydney, I don’t use a list. If I try to, by the time I visit the first store, it becomes obsolete.”
“Try not to spend too much.”
She laughed, and hugged me. “Don’t worry, I can handle things.”
The next day, she went looking for Mash bargains. In less than two hours, she breezed into the house in high spirits. My spirit soared at the short time she had spent, but plummeted when the bags arrived in her wake. I sat open-mounted, watching the packages and bags mount in the living-room.
How did she pull this off so quickly? The answer was soon obvious. She had done all her shopping at Giftland Office Max.
Not only that, she had been so impressed by what she saw, that she had taken a number of photos with her very expensive phone. These she showed everyone, declaring her opinion aloud.
“That place is like a little mall! I found everything there!” She started to open packages and empty bags, and very soon, my living-room resembled Santa’s Unwrapping and Recycling of Gifts room. There was something for everyone. She was no miser, so smiles were big, and appreciation high.
Clothes, coolers, shoes and cosmetics were handed out to a very appreciative bunch.  Then the photos were circulated. Everyone felt proud to hear and see this place where things were comparable to New York. I examined them slowly, feeling a little embarrassed that it had taken my niece from overseas to make me aware of how good our local businesses were doing. I vowed to start shopping there after Mash; I was already well equipped for this occasion, thanks to Karen’s shopping spree.
Karen’s photos of Giftland were vivid in my mind, and caused me to play them back over and over again.
Mash 2012 would be one to always remember.