Post-Christmas Shopping

I was raised with the tradition of going shopping downtown both the day after Thanksgiving and the one after Christmas. It started before there was a mall in our suburb. I did go shopping, as mentioned before, but didn't buy much. The sales ahead of time were wonderful, so wonderful that they say the post-Christmas sales won't help retailers much. There's a lot of doom and gloom prophecying out there right now and I don't have anything really positive to add.

There were a ton of people shopping when I was out, and they seemed to be buying a lot of merchandise. As is typical, most seemed to be half-price Christmas loot, which can be a dangerous game; if you're organized it can be great, but in the wrong hands it can be deadly.

My grandma was on the organized side and started her Christmas shopping on Dec. 26, which was supplemented throughout the year, with other items. She remembered what she bought, where it was and the intended recipient. One of my friends went overboard on more than one occasion, influenced by a family member whose economic situation was far better than her own; thus, shopping for family became a detriment to her finances. At one point, she had bought pairs of Christmas pillows, half-price, intending to give one the next Christmas, and the other the Christmas following. Fast forward to the next year. She had given the first pillows but neglected to keep records of the recipients thereof or to label the second pillow with the recipient's name. So there she is, with a stash of pillows that don't do much good.

Christmas decor is a dangerous gift to give; unless you know it's something that someone wants, it can be the next item donated to the thrift store, in which case it doesn't matter whether you figure out which pillow was given to whom last year. People aren't necessarily going to share your taste.