They say that it’s better to give than to receive. I’m not sure who the ‘they’ is that started spreading this heartfelt sentiment around but I’d be willing to bet that it was a collective corporate decision made by a secret society of the owners of all of the malls across the country. Or at least not a college student who doesn’t particularly enjoy shopping even when she has the money to spend, which isn’t very often. I agree that it’s a great feeling when a person opens the perfectly hand-selected gift you’ve just given them. However, getting that perfect gift to give them presents the problem for me.
Thinking up ideas of what to get people isn’t a really big issue. The problem is- the mall. I have a feeling that my personal hell is, in fact, a mall, either the day after Thanksgiving or the day before Christmas. I’ll be forced to shop forever while techno funk music with 3 word lyrics blasts from the speakers. But let’s focus on the mall portion of that nightmare. I know people who could live in the mall, whereas I am fed up within five minutes of setting foot in the main drag, let alone any of the stores themselves.
My mission while in the mall is simple: to get in and out as quickly as possible. I know what I want to buy. I would like to buy it, and then get out. No amount of friendliness from a commissioned salesperson is going to change my mind about that. There is a running (non-mall sponsored) challenge at my mall at home involving the Buckle and some way-too eager salespeople. The challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to walk at a normal speed (i.e. no dead sprints) to the back of the store, touch the wall, and walk back out of the store without being asked if you wanted some help. No one, to my knowledge, has done it yet. Or maybe someone has, and the employees had him or her ‘taken care of’ before they could tell anyone. I’m not saying they did, but I’m not saying they didn’t, either. I’m just saying that they really like selling pants in that store.
So that’s my take on shopping and why it’s my least favorite part of Christmas. Hey- sudden thought on avoiding the whole shopping scene: homemade gifts. My mom used to love the presents I made for her out of Popsicle sticks and construction paper in grade school. It’s the thought that counts. And besides, I’ll brave the freezer section of the grocery store over the evil that that is the mall and its long lines any day. At least the grocery store has an express lane.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment