2008 Woodie Awards
Just Another Manic Holiday Shopping Spree
Tricks to Prevent the Insanity of Last Minute Shopping and Gift Ideas
Toni Triola
Issue date: 12/11/03 Section: Feature
- Page 1 of 1
Oh the weather outside is frightful,' oh, how familiar and true that sounds. Winter is upon us and the holiday season is fast approaching.
We live in a fast paced world where traffic surrounding the malls succeeds in only angering us to the point of explosion.
We want quick solutions, in and out of stores, and to get exactly what is on our list.
Christmas is two weeks away and most of us have not done a lick of our shopping. Imagine, if you will, a Christmas morning where your little sister wakes up and runs down the stairs.
All she asked you to get her for Christmas was a doll she had been eyeing since April.
When your sister gets to the tree, she opens your gift, and instead of the doll she begged for, she gets a Pez dispenser.
Looking to you forlornly, you respond, "The store sold out....this was all they had."
Spare your sister the disappointment of a gift that stinks. Not to be crude, but there is always a way to get that gift.
Ever see that ill-fated Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad movie?
The one about the two guys who want to get their son that same doll and they fight throughout the entire movie?
We're not saying to go to that extreme, but there are ways to get around it.
First, there is the internet.
Point-and-click shopping not only avoids the hassle of driving the 15-minute-turned-hour long trek to the mall, but also (in most cases) the painstaking process of wrapping all of the gifts.
Also, there is a multitude of sites out there that are bound to have what you are looking for.
Secondly, you could always start for next year once there are sales. The day after Christmas periodically shop and mark down what you got for whom and make sure others know too (even worse than not getting something is getting two of it.)
For the people you are shopping for that are older than 10, a gift certificate is a sure fire way to go.
Not only do they get a gift, but they get to chose the gift that they want. Going right along with gift certificates is cash.
Cash is not only a great gift for those whom you have no idea what to get, but even for those you do know what to get. What do I mean?
This, there is always the chance they may have gotten what they disclosed they wanted, impulses are a Secret Santa's worst enemy.
And instead of trying to hint what you are thinking of getting them (to ensure they don't have it) and risking them finding out, cash ensures they can get what they need from wherever they want.
The holidays don't have to be a terrible thing. Shopping doesn't need to stop your heart when you get into the car.
It can be very simple, or as difficult as you make it.
Waiting until the last minute is a bad idea, but at least if you are the king or queen of procrastination, take comfort in knowing that you have options.
We live in a fast paced world where traffic surrounding the malls succeeds in only angering us to the point of explosion.
We want quick solutions, in and out of stores, and to get exactly what is on our list.
Christmas is two weeks away and most of us have not done a lick of our shopping. Imagine, if you will, a Christmas morning where your little sister wakes up and runs down the stairs.
All she asked you to get her for Christmas was a doll she had been eyeing since April.
When your sister gets to the tree, she opens your gift, and instead of the doll she begged for, she gets a Pez dispenser.
Looking to you forlornly, you respond, "The store sold out....this was all they had."
Spare your sister the disappointment of a gift that stinks. Not to be crude, but there is always a way to get that gift.
Ever see that ill-fated Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad movie?
The one about the two guys who want to get their son that same doll and they fight throughout the entire movie?
We're not saying to go to that extreme, but there are ways to get around it.
First, there is the internet.
Point-and-click shopping not only avoids the hassle of driving the 15-minute-turned-hour long trek to the mall, but also (in most cases) the painstaking process of wrapping all of the gifts.
Also, there is a multitude of sites out there that are bound to have what you are looking for.
Secondly, you could always start for next year once there are sales. The day after Christmas periodically shop and mark down what you got for whom and make sure others know too (even worse than not getting something is getting two of it.)
For the people you are shopping for that are older than 10, a gift certificate is a sure fire way to go.
Not only do they get a gift, but they get to chose the gift that they want. Going right along with gift certificates is cash.
Cash is not only a great gift for those whom you have no idea what to get, but even for those you do know what to get. What do I mean?
This, there is always the chance they may have gotten what they disclosed they wanted, impulses are a Secret Santa's worst enemy.
And instead of trying to hint what you are thinking of getting them (to ensure they don't have it) and risking them finding out, cash ensures they can get what they need from wherever they want.
The holidays don't have to be a terrible thing. Shopping doesn't need to stop your heart when you get into the car.
It can be very simple, or as difficult as you make it.
Waiting until the last minute is a bad idea, but at least if you are the king or queen of procrastination, take comfort in knowing that you have options.