The Christmas Frenzy

Ever think that Christmas time is a chaotic experience?  Are you one of the one’s who races against the clock just to get all your Christmas shopping done?  Christmas shopping is a bigger headache than it has to be. Every year beginning in mid October, the many retailers put out their Christmas merchandise, so their customers will get hyped up for the upcoming Christmas season.  Upon finishing all the Christmas displays, the retailers then advertise big sales, such as 50% to 70% off all their stock. They begin opening their store’s at 5:00 a.m. and close at mid-night starting the day after Thanksgiving. This day is called Black Friday.  From finding a parking spot to shopping with huge crowds of crazy customers, and ridiculously long lines, Black Friday is the worst shopping day of the year.

Parking your car at the local shopping center is almost impossible. You know that Christmas is almost here and you haven’t bought any gifts for your loved ones, so you decide to get up early on Black Friday and get all your shopping done by noon.  Its 3:00 a.m., you wake up hoping to get all your shopping done before the late afternoon rush.  You get in your car and race to the local shopping center.  When you finally get there, the parking lots are already full.  You are not alone as you search for a parking spot.  You can’t believe that you are not the only one with this idea.  There are hundreds and even thousands of other impatient, irritated, and crazed shoppers who are willing to fight you over the same parking spot that you believe is yours. You have been circling the parking lot for an hour, and you spot someone heading for their car, so you follow them.  You are behind their car waiting for them to back up and just as they are backing out, a Mercedes Benz whips right into your spot.  After an hour of searching, and you think you finally get a parking spot, that rude guy stole it from you.  As he gets out of the car, he taunts you with a loud and obnoxious laugh. Your emotions are running wild at this very moment.  You don’t know whether to roll down your window and scream at the guy or jump out of the car door and beat the snap out of him.  Deciding to be the mature and responsible one, you drive off searching for another spot.  Twenty minutes have now passed, and you finally find a spot and park.  You are irritated and exhausted, but determined to get your Christmas gift shopping done. 

Next is the dreaded Christmas Shopping on Black Friday which is unbearably time consuming.    It’s now 6 a.m.  After waiting for over an hour in a long line of people, you finally reach the front door of the shopping center.  Upon Entering the Shopping Center, you find that there aren’t any shopping carts left. The clerk makes you put your name on the cart wait list.  You now have time to spare, so you reach for your shopping list and analyze it. You search for the most important name on the list because you know that if you forget that person’s gift, you are going be in trouble.  It’s 7 a.m. and your name is finally called. You have the shopping cart in your hands at last.  Now the hunt for gifts is really on.

As your search for Christmas gifts for your loved ones begins, you run into more problems.  The shelves are almost empty, and out of the corner of your eye you see some strange things.  You see two women walking together without a shopping cart, and then one of them grabs a full shopping cart and starts running with it.  Many people stop to watch, and as soon as they weren’t paying attention to their carts, the other woman started taking things out of their shopping carts. You then start to scramble to get the rest of your gifts, before you too are the victim of this type of foul rudeness.  At last, you hold the final gift in your hands. Your shopping nightmare is almost over.

In addition, the checkout lines are unbearably long.  Finally feeling satisfied about your selections, you then head for the checkout counter.  When you actually find the end of the shortest checkout line, it’s at the back of the store.  There are at least 100 people in front of you.  Most of the people in the line are angry.  You hear lots of people complaining. For example, there is an older couple waiting behind you in line, and the husband starts whining and he begins by saying, “Marge, I am hungry. I want breakfast. Why did you make me come shopping with you? I’m tired of standing. My feet hurt.”  The wife keeps telling him to shut up and stop being a baby. You want to turn around and say the same, but you restrain yourself. There are also several annoyingly loud customers that are right in front of you in line that are demanding that the line move faster.  Your head is pounding.  You are wishing that everyone would be quiet.  After two hours of waiting in line behind these rude and obnoxious people, you finally get waited on at the checkout counter. It has now been 8 hours since you began this shopping trip, and you’re irritated and exhausted and yet elated that your shopping nightmare is finally over, but you feel that there has to be a solution to all the madness.

However, there is a solution to the madness. Every month there are huge sales at the department stores.  If you shop all throughout the year, then you don’t have to wait for the last minute. Find out from your loved ones, what they are interested in, and buy those items when they are on sale.  You can get the same 50% to 70% off the same items that you would during Black Friday.  By shopping this way, you don’t have to wake up so early, fight for a parking spot, wait for shopping carts, or wait in those unbearably long lines.  Instead of being part of the problem, become part of the solution, so you can finally break free of Black Friday!