"?Como Estas?" or Drowsy's In Da House!

I thought I would share my funniest Christmas story with you; 'tis the season and all, right? My father tells this story the best, but since he's not here right now, and it would take him an hour and a half to type the title, I've decided it would be in the best interest of everyone involved if I just give you my second-hand version. (Let me give you a visual of my dad typing: Let's say he's typing the word 'all'. It would take him twenty minutes to find the "a", twenty minutes to find the first "l", and then another ten minutes to remember where the darn "l" was that he just typed a second ago.)

It was 1971, I was almost three years old, which means I was probably just about starting to speak fluent English, as kids growing up in a third generation American family tend to do at that age. This Christmas was different from any Christmas I'd ever experienced before because it was the first time I ever asked for anything in particular from Santa, not for lack of wanting, I'm sure, just for lack of speaking.

My parents were really cool because not only did I get to ask Santa for some gifts, but I also got to ask my mom and dad for one special gift, just from them! My father says that all I kept asking for was Drowsy. She's the lovely doll (pictured above) in the pink with white polka-dotted outfit. She has a rather large dome-shaped head, and I don't know who the heck gave her that God-awful haircut, but I wanted her, nonetheless. Actually, she's quite adorable with her frilly, lace collar and all, but I know for a fact that those weren't the reasons why I wanted her so badly. I wanted Drowsy because when you pulled the string that more-or-less came out of her buttocks, she would talk to you! That was amazing technology back then, to be sure.

So, the only thing little Bhakti wanted for Christmas from her loving parents was Drowsy; that's it. That's all my parents and two brothers heard about for at least two or three weeks leading up to Christmas that year. "Me want Drowsy! Me want Drowsy!" etc., etc.

On Christmas Eve, in the year of 1971, my father looked at my mother and said, "Oh my gosh! We forgot to get Drowsy!" My mother said that my father busted out the phone book and called every store in town. No one had even ONE Drowsy (she must have been all the rage that year!). The local K-mart told my dad to go to another K-Mart located about a half-hour away; they had a lot of them left! This made my dad very happy. He proudly fired up his black Ford truck and drove over to K-Mart in Dover, NJ (anyone who lives in or around Dover probably knows where I'm going with this!!). I can just see him, the proud father driving out to K-Mart in the middle of the night (my mother say's it was close to midnite!) to get his baby girl the Drowsy doll she's wanted for ages.

Apparently, when he arrived at the K-Mart in Dover, there were, in fact, about thirty Drowsy's left on the shelf. My father grabbed one, paid for it, and drove home. He sat at the table and got ready to wrap her up. He pulled the string:

Drowsy: "Quiero una bebida de agua!"

Dad: "What the %&#*! Honey, come here! This thing doesn't work!!!" No wonder there were so many of them left!! Damn thing is broken!"

Mom: (She pulls the string)

Drowsy: "Quiero bañarse!"

Mom: ('Looks at Drowsy, perplexed.) "Oh well. We really should have bought her earlier!"

Dad: "Just give her to me. Bhakti won't know the difference. She's just starting to talk anyway."

My dad wrapped the present and then put it under the tree. My parents went to bed and waited in anticipation for Santa to visit us that night.

The next morning, I awoke and found my Drowsy doll. I remember carrying her around for YEARS. And, thanks to her, I was fluent in Spanish by age four!

The thing that cracks me up the most about this story is that my dad thought Drowsy was broken. Picturing my dad as the Archie Bunker that he is makes it even more hysterical!

Click here to read about all things Drowsy!

Thank you for reading, and Happy Holidays!!
Love,
Bhakti

tags: humor, Christmas, Dolls