At the beginning of the story, Della steadily counts her one dollar and eighty-seven cents multiple times before she bursts into tears and begins crying on her couch. The following day will be Christmas and Della is extremely upset that she will not have enough money to purchase a wonderful gift for her husband Jim. As Della cries to herself, the narrator comments that life predominantly consists of "sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles." The narrator is saying that life is a constant struggle, which is filled with more tears and sniffles than smiles. This minor comment corresponds to Della's various reactions throughout the story. Della is initially upset, then becomes happy after purchasing Jim a worthy gift, and becomes emotional again after she discovers that Jim sold his watch. After Della sobs on the couch, she begins Christmas shopping and decides to sell her beautiful hair for twenty dollars. Once Della has all of her hair cut off, she proceeds to buy Jim a platinum fob chain for his grandfather's gold watch. Unfortunately, Jim sold his watch to purchase Della expensive combs, which are useless now that she has no hair.