Dollar Store

On Tuesday we met with the volunteer group who had most recently been to Haiti. One of many recommendations was to pack some gifts for the children in the orphanage, the nurses and the translators. So yesterday I went to the Dollar Store. I found gifts for the kids pretty quickly...a combination of party favor stuff and random stickers. I was having more difficulty finding things for the adults. The reality is that after working a shift at the hospital many of the nurses and translators return home to a tent. Therefore things like candles and bodywashes seemed to make no sense. As it turns out, it is just as difficult to shop for the person who has practically nothing as it is for the person who has everything. So what pathetic items did I come up with? For the nurses I purchased a variety of different note pads, sticky notes, etc. Many of these were covered with floral designs so it seemed inappropriate as a gift for translators who are predominantly male. I am ashamed to say that after considering socks, baseball hats, ugly figurines, etc., etc., I decided upon...Pez dispensers. How practical is that? Who doesn't crave Pez after a long, hot work day? I am pretty disgusted with myself. Therefore, I am going to take this opportunity to proactively apologize to the wonderful Haitian people who will become victim to my horrid choice of gifts.