Less than one week until Christmas and everyone, well many people, still have shopping to do.
Trying to find just the right gift for those special people in your life can be challenging.
But can you believe how challenging it actually is?
I have ventured out a few times to check out what stores are offering. What I have found, is, well, it’s been challenging.
Shopping in 2022 is not like it was 10, 20, 30-plus years ago. Back in those days, you could find just about anything and at good prices.
The reality of 2022 is, choices are slimmer, prices appear higher and quality seems to be a bit off.
But if you have the time and the energy, you can — probably — find those special gifts for those special people in your life.
Or, you can go online.
That last sentence, I’m sure, will send shivers up and down the spine of big box store owners everywhere. But most of them also offer online shopping options, so you can shop your favorite stores without ever leaving the comfort of your home.
Right?
But back in the day, shopping was not just an art, it was fun. Pre-pandemic, people would head out to the shopping malls and outdoors plazas and browse — which, I’m afraid, has become somewhat of a lost art.
In today’s hurry-up world, browsing really doesn’t fit today’s shopping model.
“Oh, come on already, just get something,” you will hear.
“What does it matter, he/she will only take it back and get what they want anyway.”
“Get that, they should feel lucky that you got them something.”
It used to be fun to be a part of the holiday shopping scene. Crowded stores, long lines at the check-out, cappuccinos at the coffee shop, breaking for lunch and taking what you purchased to be gift wrapped on the fourth floor of the department store.
This is what many people lived for — they thrived on it. Some even waited until Christmas Eve to venture out, risking the possibility that they would actually find a suitable gift for their favorite people.
But this actually could have many benefits. Store owners would see the end of the holiday shopping season about to end and would take a couple percentage points off prices just to make a sale.
Yes! Aunt Josie will love this cuckoo clock and we got it at half price!
And when all the shopping was done and the gifts were wrapped, the next phase was the gift exchange stage. The worry here is that you may have gotten someone a much better and more expensive gift than they got you. Or, they got you something way better and much pricier than what you got them. One scenario, you were ticked off, the other scenario, you were embarrassed. Rare was it that your gift and what you gave were at the same level.
“Billy, don’t you just love that?”
Uhhh, yeah, sure.
When buying apparel of any type, there is always that risk — sizing.
For some reason, people think size markings are accurate, which in most cases they are not.
So when you receive something that in theory should fit and it doesn’t, what do you do?
Do you just say thank you, put it in a drawer and never see it again?
Or do you return it to the person that purchased it and say it must be marked wrong.
Or begin that diet.
There is one alternative to all of this. It’s become the time-honored holiday gift-giving go-to, sure-fire, never-fail option — gift cards.
They always fit. They are always used to buy exactly what the recipient wants and/or needs. And they can be sent anywhere for the mere cost of a postage stamp and a lovely card.
Gift cards will always be well-received and they will be used, no doubt about it.
And you can get a gift card to just about every store, or you can opt for the all-inclusive card that doesn’t specify where it must be spent.
And you don’t have to go store-to-store, shopping center to mall to search for a gift that’s probably not going to be appreciated anyway.
Leave the tough decisions to Santa.
And if you want, go to a coffee shop or restaurant and get a corner table. Then one by one, write something brilliant and meaningful in each card, place the gift card inside, address the envelope and sit back and enjoy your latte and chicken salad.
And leave the challenges behind.