Three Weeks Before Christmas

This is a late post, but I wanted to still put it out there...

It is roughly three weeks before Christmas, and I'm sure I am not alone, but there was something about the buying frenzy of Christmas that bothered me this year. I sound like Charlie Brown, I know, but it is just some little things that have happened recently that seemed to have snowballed.

It starts with Black Friday and then gets worse from there.  It is the desperation of the retailers, being swooped down upon by salespeople pleading to help you to make sure you spend some money in their store before you leave. And Black Friday has turned into who can advertise the most ridiculous low camera, flat screen TV, or other electronic device to lure you to their store. Not to mention stores are open on Thanksgiving Day. Anyway, Black Friday seems more like an excuse to buy yourself a present than to buy a present for someone on your list.

Next comes the game of "retail chicken". If a buy something the first week of December, I know that the next weekend it will be cheaper. However, the size medium sweater that my wife loved will be gone and now my only choice is XS of XX L. She will either think I have cheerleader fantasies or think she is fat. Not good for me either way.

And even when you do play the retailer's game, you can still lose. This year Santa was going to bring Bean Bag chairs for the kids. We ordered them on the Monday after Thanksgiving. In hip Christmas lingo, "Cyber Minday". We received one bean bag chair two weeks later. The other one, not so lucky. Two days after we ordered it, we were told it was on back order. When the first one arrived, we called to check on the second Bean bag chair and were told that it had been delayed because of the longshoreman strike on the west coast, but it would make it for Christmas. December 18th came and Santa still only had one bean bag chair. We called again, and were told that it would ship on Christmas Day. Santa plan B was activated, even though we did what the retailers say, order early to avoid the rush. We actually called the say after Christmas because we had not received notice the bean bag chair had shipped and were told that the color we had chosen was out of stock, permanently, and had been out of stock since December 18th. Arghhhhhh!!!!!

Eventually we did get the second bean bag chair on New Year's Eve, in a different color. I know this has happened to everyone, but like I said Christmas shopping has turned into buying something the retailer has discounted because it is a good deal, and not buying a gift that your family or friends want or shows you were thinking of them.

My favorite gift this year was a board my brother and I played when we were younger. He found it at Goodwill for $3.40. Yes, the decimal point is in the right spot.