It’s that time of year again…grab your wallets, pocketbooks, and take to the malls or the Internet and shop for our loved ones. “Tis the season, to be jolly,” the song reminds us as we navigate through the onslaught of holiday traffic that begins every year, right around this time. We are determined to get that “perfect parking spot,” and so we cruise until we can find one that is not too far of a walk from the entrance to the mall. No dice.
It seems that everyone else has the same idea, and cars are starting to cause congestion in each aisle. They are poised to take that coveted parking spot that you so strongly desire, never mind the fact that they are blocking the intersection! You lurch forward, but you weren’t fast enough, and the spot goes to the one with the fastest foot. You resign to failure, and end up parking nearly an eighth of a mile away from the entrance.
After that 10 minute walk in the windy and cold weather, you finally reach the entrance of the mall. You stop and catch your breath, only to be pushed aside by a large group of people making their way into the building. They rush by with arms flailing, and in a rush. “Why are they rushing?” you ask yourself. Then you remember, “Oh yeah, it’s Christmas Eve. Why did I wait until the last minute again?”
It turns out, you do this every year. You say that you will not put it off next year, but you know better. Again, here you are, on December 24th at 4PM, looking for that perfect last-minute gift idea, desperately hoping that at least one store has that one item left that would be perfect for your brother Jimmy. You’ve caught your breath now, so it’s time to go into the mall and have a look around.
You find the record store, and you remember that CD that Jimmy liked so much, and wasn’t able to get his hands on. Vaguely remembering the name of the album, let alone the name of the band, you scour the store for 15 minutes, until you find it. A feeling of success overcomes you, that is, until you look at the price of it! You wince, yet you cave in, and buy it, deeming it for a just cause. You hand over the cash and walk out the door, and back into the mall.
You can’t help but notice all the other people who are doing pretty much the same thing, rushing around to find that perfect gift, at the last minute. You wonder what’s going through their minds….fear…hope…desperation…obligation, or maybe a feeling of guilt? They know that someone is going to get a gift for them, so they feel the need to return the favor, and they do exactly what you did; they wait until the last minute to get something, because the pressure somehow drives them to get out there and do it…that proverbial “fire under their asses.”
Because you are in a rush, you fail to see that the prices aren’t really that low…that they were jacked up weeks before Christmas, so that after a substantial “cut” on the price (40% off,) it appeared that you got a really big discount! It’s too late. You took the bait. You fell for it. You just hope that Jimmy likes the CD that you bought him, and that it validates you as a good human being. And then you wonder if Jimmy got YOU anything for Christmas this year….