Holiday Frenzy

Here it is…Thanksgiving again. It is time for the onslaught of advertisements – retailers pumping information into our heads. Convincing us that now is the time to buy…spend money…give in to excess…more more more.

The day after Thanksgiving is often viewed as the busiest shopping day of the year. (It's not...the Sunday before Christmas is, actually.) People give in and contribute to the hype. Lemmings running out to the stores to catch the best deals. Lining up in the wee hours, surging forth as the doors open early, stampeding into the stores to be the first to grab the holy grail of gifts.

None of that for me, thank you. From now until well after Christmas, I'll be doing my best to avoid the stores on the weekends. I won't set foot near the mall. If I do need to get out and purchase something, it'll be on a week night. Less chance of crowds then.

I actually have the bulk of my Christmas shopping done. Just a few items remain, and those can easily be purchased online, saving me from having to brave the mayhem that will surely be taking place in the malls and shopping centers.

Perhaps I've been spoiled. I spent almost five years living overseas. It was a bit of an eye-opening experience for me. In that time, I learned that America truly is a consumer's paradise. If you want it, you can easily find it almost anywhere here. Not so much in the small villages in Europe. And while the pendulum is slowly swinging towards consumerism over there, it's not nearly as bad as it is here.

I guess I just don't see the sense in rushing around trying to compete against everyone else. Maybe I'm a scrooge. No – I think that it stems more from my dislike of crowds. They are worse this time of year, and I have no desire to try to navigate through parking lots and crowded store aisles trying to get those last few items that I need to round out my list while everyone else is just starting on theirs.

I took the easy road this year – I went out a couple of weeks ago and ordered most of our gifts to be shipped directly from the store to our families back home. That is ahuge convenience for me, as anyone that knows me knows that I am notoriously awful about mailing packages on time. I've got a couple of odds and ends at home to send out, and the remaining gifts can be ordered online, and shipped directly to the recipients. It's that easy for me this year, and it feels so good to be so far ahead of the game. Even my Christmas cards are already done – addressed and stuffed into envelopes, just awaiting postage.

So you won't find me rushing to the stores the day after Thanksgiving. Not even this weekend, as I have what I need at home already. I'll spend my holiday where I feel that I should be – at home with the California branch of my family enjoying the holidays.