Shopping on the 26th

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

CHRISTMAS shopping: everyone has a personal experience of what that’s like every year.

This fast-paced mission to get something for that special someone has always been successful in force-feeding the holiday shopper with an unusual diet of both joy and stress.

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Although the good fact remains that, besides the challenges of long lines at the counter or dealing with stray reindeer (made that last one up), most people enjoy all the “busyness” these days, all for the sake of the Christmas spirit.

But consider this: Have you ever thought of starting your shopping on Dec. 26 instead?

Yes, imagine the malls suddenly becoming less frenzied on that particular day. Malls so sane you can hear the crickets jamming to Jose Mari Chan’s holiday tunes.

“But isn’t that one day too late?” you may ask. Good question.

To get things straight, what we’re talking about right here is to start shopping on the 26th for the next year.

Now before you go ballistic at the thought of such an extreme and excessive act displaying obsessive compulsiveness, take this little advice with a grain of salt. Rather instead of asking “why,” ask yourself, “why not?”

So now here are some random and semi-crazy reasons why shopping 11 months in advance for the holidays should be pretty advantageous for you.

For experience’s sake. You should go out and do it because you need to try this at least for once in your life. Anyhow, imagine if it doesn’t work out well for you the first time, then you already have an excuse to go back to your Christmas cramming routine the following year.

Prices have nowhere else to go but… Down! That’s right. Although it’s unlikely that the prices of gift items and the like would start to rollback exactly the day after Christmas, it sure will anytime soon; come days, weeks, or months. Saving isn’t a bad idea, you know.

Avoid the crowd. Malls will become less and less crowded the further the date is from the 25th (maybe it’ll rise on the New Year, but you get the point). If you think you’re claustrophobic and the like, then consider it “safer and convenient” for you to shop on those days instead.

The skies agree too. The weather is supposedly dry and cooler on those days. Shopping during the “Ber months” could tend to be muddy because of the rains and all—that is, if global warming doesn’t mess the whole climate calendar thing up again.

Start a new trend. Maybe you’ll be a lot cooler than the rest of the gang since you’re doing it when everyone else isn’t.

You know—the bit about standing out and all that. But don’t do it because you know it makes you cool, because by doing so, you also eliminate coolness points from yourself in the process of chasing coolness.

So do it like you aren’t cool when in fact you are. Nah, forget about this whole tip.

The serenity. You might want to try out this whole idea and it could actually be healthy for you.

Maybe all for the reason that you would be going through the motion of shopping you will truly feel peace on earth, while entirely feeling the Christmas mood, minus the Christmas rush.

Profound line there, isn’t it? Notice how the days leading to the 25th usually have both of those things mixed up.

In the end, there is a big chance that few, or no one, will take this kind of advance shopping tip pretty seriously. But that’s the whole point. If everyone did take this seriously, then all those random reasons stated above won’t be pretty much applicable anymore. So, it’s really up to you when to start shopping. Happy holidays!