Dec 8th, 2007
Holiday shopping
This is the time of year when many of us are faced with some or all of the following:
—A deluge of catalogs in our mailboxes. What’s up with that, anyway? I mean, just how many copies of Catalog X does a person need to receive within one month? Certainly not six. (Save some trees—and your mailbox—by registering at Catalog Choice, a free service that helps you get off those mailing lists.)
—Lots of sanctimonious talk (on blogs, in church, in editorials) about how shopping and spending are out of control at this time of year. First of all, Christmas-time consumerism has been happening for well over a century, so this is nothing new. And second, why focus on just Christmas? We have a huge problem with consumerism in general, so perhaps those “spend less money and spend more time being with people you love and helping others” messages ought to be shouted out year-round. (This reminds of those god-awful local news spots at food kitchens on Thanksgiving, with the reporter who says, “Volunteers are here giving up their Thanksgiving* in order to give something back** and show the down and out that someone cares for them”…to which I want to add “…until Thanksgiving is over and society decides to forget about you again until next year.”)
(*Start handing out the Nobel Peace Prizes, please!)
(**Is it just me, or does this phrase make you, too, want to retch?)
—Stressing out about what gifts we do want to give. Jan and I keep our gift-giving pretty simple. We shop for just a few people, and we really try to find something that we think the recipient will enjoy (which is why, much as I like the idea in theory, we never give gifts of charitable donations in someone else’s name). We also don’t go crazy with the spending (unlike someone I used to ride the commuter train with who told me that the adults in his family now usually spend $1,000 per person on gifts each year).
This year, I think I’ve found the perfect gift
That last amazon link? Too weird!
Thanks for the catalog link!
Ok, that gave me a good laugh.
My dad is the worst to buy for. Especially now that he is retired.
Okay, what I like best about the “perfect gift” link is that, in the “people who have viewed this have also viewed…” section, you can get either your very own Land Cruiser Tank for just under $20k (http://www.amazon.com/JL421-Badonkadonk-Land-Cruiser-Tank/dp/B00067F1CE/ref=pd_sbs_misc_title_2) or, better yet, a FRESH WHOLE RABBIT (*do not* click this link if you don’t want to see a dead rabbit!! – http://www.amazon.com/Cloverdale-Fresh-Whole-Rabbit/dp/B00012182G/ref=pd_sbs_misc_title_4). And the best thing about the rabbit meat page? The second picture, of live rabbits piled on top of each other.
Are these people for real?!? I thought Amazon had some sort of quality control going on, but these are the weirdest things I’ve ever seen available. Crazy.