Shopping at Christmas—Bah, Humbug!
Does anyone else hate to shop?
I know a few of us out there would rather go to the dentist for a cleaning than walk through a mall. (I specified a cleaning since even I am not crazy enough to prefer getting a tooth filled over walking through a department store!).
The Christmas decorations inside a mall all look so fake to me. They’re supposed to look pretty and enticing, but I prefer being outside, seeing God’s natural beauty on the trees. Even people’s efforts at fixing up their homes for the holidays with lights and corny yard decorations appeal to me more than glittery items inside a mall.
The problem is, I know the mall decorations are put there to encourage me to spend money and I don’t like being manipulated.
A lot of people like to gather in stores and malls to look for sales and to find the perfect gifts for their friends and loved ones. If they enjoy shopping at Christmas, that’s great. I just wish there was an alternative for people like me who avoid malls like the flu (more pertinent this year than the plague).
Luck was with me last year when an acquaintance sold restaurant and department store gift cards for her school’s music program. A percentage of the sales went to the school. The store must have made up the difference because I paid for a $20 gift card and got a $20 gift card.
I stuck 5 in each of my kids’ stockings. Voila! My job was done. No wrapping! No shopping! No searching for a parking spot in a messy lot! No needing to find a place to hide the gifts since they fit in my sock drawer!
The kids loved them and I was thrilled at this method of escape for another year.
No such luck this year. The school is not selling the cards. That means with only 12 days left to shop, I’d better be hustling to buy something for somebody.
My attitude may sound sour, but I promise if we meet, you won’t see my true feelings showing. Instead, a smile will be on my face because I’m doing my best to pretend the mall is just the spot I want to be in at that moment in time.
In the meantime, I’ll check Ebay to see if they’re selling department store gift cards. It’s worth a try, even if I have to pay to have them overnighted.
Here’s a verse leading up to the wonderful day of Christ’s birth: “When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: " 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.”- Matthew 2:4-6
Take care.
Kayleen J. Reusser
Kjreusser@adamswells.com
www.KayleenR.com
I know a few of us out there would rather go to the dentist for a cleaning than walk through a mall. (I specified a cleaning since even I am not crazy enough to prefer getting a tooth filled over walking through a department store!).
The Christmas decorations inside a mall all look so fake to me. They’re supposed to look pretty and enticing, but I prefer being outside, seeing God’s natural beauty on the trees. Even people’s efforts at fixing up their homes for the holidays with lights and corny yard decorations appeal to me more than glittery items inside a mall.
The problem is, I know the mall decorations are put there to encourage me to spend money and I don’t like being manipulated.
A lot of people like to gather in stores and malls to look for sales and to find the perfect gifts for their friends and loved ones. If they enjoy shopping at Christmas, that’s great. I just wish there was an alternative for people like me who avoid malls like the flu (more pertinent this year than the plague).
Luck was with me last year when an acquaintance sold restaurant and department store gift cards for her school’s music program. A percentage of the sales went to the school. The store must have made up the difference because I paid for a $20 gift card and got a $20 gift card.
I stuck 5 in each of my kids’ stockings. Voila! My job was done. No wrapping! No shopping! No searching for a parking spot in a messy lot! No needing to find a place to hide the gifts since they fit in my sock drawer!
The kids loved them and I was thrilled at this method of escape for another year.
No such luck this year. The school is not selling the cards. That means with only 12 days left to shop, I’d better be hustling to buy something for somebody.
My attitude may sound sour, but I promise if we meet, you won’t see my true feelings showing. Instead, a smile will be on my face because I’m doing my best to pretend the mall is just the spot I want to be in at that moment in time.
In the meantime, I’ll check Ebay to see if they’re selling department store gift cards. It’s worth a try, even if I have to pay to have them overnighted.
Here’s a verse leading up to the wonderful day of Christ’s birth: “When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: " 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.”- Matthew 2:4-6
Take care.
Kayleen J. Reusser
Kjreusser@adamswells.com
www.KayleenR.com
posted by Kayleen | 5:01 AM
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