Friday, December 15, 2006

Chrishmish shapping

It's a good thing I haven't gone too crazy with online shopping, especially with how bad I am at regular shopping and how much better the products look on the computer screen than in person. I get in the stores and regardless of if I have an idea of what to buy or not, I get in this hazy, confused, irritable state and then end up doing things like looking at every single board book in the big old bookstore's section for kids, and then end up buying the one that my nephew already has. Or buying my significant other the same kind of shaver 2 years in a row AND also forgetting how crappy it was and that it nicked and cut up his face. As it gets closer and closer to Christmas and I get more and more desperate, everything I look at starts looking like what might be a good gift idea, which usually ends up being awful. And then I start thinking about this shit way too hard and want to break down right there in the store, yelling stuff out like "I don't think I even really KNOW my family or what the hell they like! Hey you there, hey lady - do you think my dad would like this sampler of teas? Hey stranger, how much do you have to spend on your coworkers to not look like a shmuck? Excuse me, hi there random person, do you think I'm buying these earrings because I like them or because I truly think my mom will like them? How about a variety pack of kleenex - is that a gift? I know I'd use it if it was for me. I mean, if you think about it - what isn't a gift, right? RIGHT? Someone??? Help?"
Yeah, so shopping tonight should be fun.

4 comments:

Beckalicious said...

I feel your pain.

Sturdy Girl said...

I predict that in the near future the best gift we will give each other is the decision not to buy gifts. Ok, maybe not the near future. Ok, maybe this won't work with anyone I know, but it's worth thinking about.

Anonymous said...

I totally start seeing everything as a potential Christmas gift, too - I call this phenomenon Christmas Gift Goggles. Like, I'll see a basket of mints as I'm leaving a restaurant, and I'll think, "Hey, I bet my sister would love a handful of mints! I could put them in the box that my watch came in - she'll love it!"

And, I find that many of the gifts I buy don't seem so great once I get them home and prepare to wrap them: Did I seriously buy my mom a book about doing yoga in the office, and a coffee mug? She doesn't even work in an office, and she's got about a million coffee mugs!

Oh, the pressure....

Anonymous said...

I nearly always give food and/or something completely silly. This year it's candy lips.Last year it was fake mustaches,and the year before it was rubber beehive wigs. They're cheap, no one would ever think of doing it, and everyone remembers.