Persistence, luck help land elusive fish-themed present

The conversation last month began, as it occasionally does, with a question.

Several celebrations were clustered in the first week of May — my nephew’s first birthday, Boys’ Day, Mother’s Day — so I sent a message to my sister asking about possible gift ideas.

Instant messaging has been our primary method of communication ever since she moved to the mainland several years ago with her Air Force husband. Her life’s a lot busier now with two young sons and frequent moves, but we still find time to gab via keyboard.

We talk about all sorts of things, but some of my favorite chats revolve around finding gifts for her and her family. I am a helpless helper, and if I can get her something she can’t find on the mainland, it makes me happy to know she will be happy to receive it.

That positive attitude came in handy during our conversation when she told me what she had been looking for, to no avail: a marine-life-themed shower curtain that was on clearance at Target. The stores near her were all out, and she was hoping to get one for her sons’ bathroom in their next home. The Circo “Fish Collection” curtain with its colorful array of fish and other sea critters would make a cheery addition to bath time, and when my sister sent me a photo of it I could see why it was such a hot commodity.

She felt bad asking if I could search for one, since it seemed like a lost cause, but I welcomed the challenge.

The stakes were raised when she described her struggle to find the curtain: Not only was it sold out in-store; she could not purchase it online because Target doesn’t allow Internet purchases of clearance items.

With multiple Targets on Oahu, I figured I had a decent chance of finding it somewhere. There was always Amazon, but I wanted to avoid third-party vendors and a decidedly nonclearance price. A quick search online revealed that of six Hawaii Target locations, only the Kapolei store had any curtains left.

Then I did something I hardly ever do: I grabbed my phone and called customer service in Kapolei. Was there any way, I asked, that I could put the curtain on hold?

The kind employee confirmed that there were a couple of curtains left but that clearance items could not be put on hold.

It became a race against time. It was Thursday, and the earliest I could get to the Kapolei Target was Saturday morning. For the next day and a half, all I could think about was whether the curtains would still be there.

Luckily, good fortune was on my side. When my boyfriend, Kevin, and I finally zipped over to Kapolei, we found not one, but two of the coveted curtains. I quickly swiped both, plus a cute fish rug that was also on clearance.

The icing on the cake: All three items were purchased for less than the cost of one of them at regular price. I felt like a shopping boss, but the best feeling was knowing my sister would be happy, too.

“She Speaks” is a weekly column by women writers of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Reach Celia Downes at cdownes@staradvertiser.com.