It is now December. Yet again, I seem to have made it to December without buying any Christmas gifts and without any good ideas about what to make or buy my loved ones for my favourite holiday season. Last year (as I do every year), I swore I would buy gifts for people all year when they were on sale or when I found them "the perfect gift." It turns out, I don't shop.
I used to shop. Most of my professional life, I worked in retail and when you work in retail you are aware of the gift-giving season because you see your customers start to buy gifts for their families and you talk to them about their gifts and you think that maybe you should start buying your own gifts. In 2007, I had all of my Christmas shopping completed before December 1st. In retrospect, I think that I ended up paying more for the items that I bought because everything in the entire world seems to go on sale right before and after Christmas. I had all of my Christmas shopping done that year so when my customers or my co-workers talked about all of the shopping they had left to do, I could smugly say: "I'm done." This never made anyone happy but me.
In the interest of getting better deals, I'm holding off my shopping this season until the last minute. My new Christmas shopping mantra is: "Don't be smug; Procrastinate!" This year, I will be one of the frantic maniacs on December 23rd trying desperately to find the perfect gift only to not buy a single thing. On the December 24th, I will be lucky if I finish the shopping and have time for an annual rum and egg nog.
Luckily, I don't have to worry about that yet and I can just enjoy the holiday season in Prince George. There's still time.
