|
Keeping Your Sanity
While Shopping This Holiday
The
Etiquette Queen Speaks Out
You'd think that it was enough to spend the month between Thanksgiving and
Christmas dusting off tree ornaments, baking for the school cookie contest and
finding a dress for the office party. But no, there's more.
What's missing? No need to furrow your brow, dear hearts, because the
omission is obvious: Shopping. Christmas shopping in particular. Which,
depending on your point of view, either fills you with unspeakable joy or makes
you want to throw up.
If you are feeling joyful, stop reading.
But if even contemplating your shopping list makes you want to lie down with
a cool cloth on your forehead (which is the Queen's reaction), as usual the
Queen - your Queen -- is here to help. Ponder, then, the Queen's Guide to
Christmas Shopping, a hodgepodge of helpful hints and musings (offered in no
particular order) designed to help you get through the coming shopping season.
1. Never shop on an empty stomach.
All your plans for power shopping (meaning 10 stores in 3 hours) will be
ruined if you have to wait on line (with all of your packages) at Bruno's Burger
Land and then carry that flimsy little orange tray in one hand.
Dine first and carry something easy in your purse (bottled water, trail mix,
pretzel sticks) to snack on as you stride purposely through the mall.
2. Never shop with someone who has a different shopping style.
"Shopping style" is a very particular personal characteristic. Some
shoppers are simply incapable of entering a store, buying one thing and leaving,
while others consider a shopping trip to be a failure if they spend more than 15
minutes anywhere.
Neither approach is superior to the other, but the clash of styles leaves
everyone feeling homicidal, so be careful about who you choose to shop with.
3. Park your car with the front end facing out.
When amateur shoppers are out in full force, you can still make a graceful
and easy exit if your car is facing in the direction in which you hope to drive.
Nothing is more unpleasant than an unscheduled visit with an auto insurance
adjuster around the holidays, even if it means that you get an extra calendar
with your insurance company's name written in that funny font.
By the way, consider taking only your car key with you and lock your other
keys in the trunk of your car.
4. Clean out your wallet, your purse and your coat pockets.
Life at the cash register is wicked enough without having receipts from your
last 8 trips to the convenience store cascade out of your wallet as you search
for your credit card.
So take all of the non-essentials out of your wallet and/or purse as well as
your pockets. The salesclerk doesn't need to see a picture of you and your dog.
At most he needs your credit card and driver's license or other ID. Plus, if you
fall prey to a pickpocket or simply lose your wallet (not unheard of during the
hectic holiday season), you haven't lost everything you own.
While you're at it, put a little envelope in your wallet or purse and use it
to collect all your receipts. Receipts should never "go in the bag,"
despite the salesclerk's smiling suggestion, if only for the reason that if you
have charged your purchase, your credit card number is on it.
5. Wear comfortable clothing and shoes.
Wear comfortable clothing and shoes and leave that winter coat in the car.
Down jackets, capes, and harlequin hats that play Christmas carols should be
left behind. And you will not be a cheery shopper if you insist on shopping
which wearing those jeans that are a tiny bit too small; save them for your high
school reunion planning committee meeting in January.
6. Make a shopping plan.
The most successful shoppers have several things in common. First, they know
what time stores open and close (you would be surprised how many "big
box" retailers start opening at 8 AM for the critical holiday season). They
also are aware of and use back entrances and exits into crowded parking lots. As
well, they have a concise list of the gifts they need organized based on the
store (or stores) they intend to try.
And for gifts that they want the retailer to mail (and many stores will do
this for an amount only slightly more than the price at the post office - and in
many cases you can see a savings in sales tax if the gift is sent out of state),
they have current addresses (including zip codes) neatly printed on index cards.
No sales clerk wants to wait while you thumb through your address book
looking for Megan Smith's new address in Colorado which you think you wrote on
an adjoining page because there was no room left on the "S" page…
and an inaccurate or incomplete address is a prescription for disaster.
7. Don't rely on your cell phone.
Lots of people rely on their cell phones to coordinate shopping with friends
or family elsewhere in the same shopping area and don't have a backup plan.
This is a very bad idea. Why? Because interior areas of stores and malls may
have little or no signal reception. Besides the embarrassment that you will
suffer when you are standing in the food court shrieking "Hello,
HELLO!!" into your hand, you may never actually reach the other person.
Work out a plan that if you haven't actually spoken to each other by a certain
time, you will meet at a central location.
8. Shop online before you shop in person.
If you have lots of brand name products on your shopping list, devote an
evening or two to shopping on line before you even get into the car. Purchasing
such items from a reliable online merchant (especially one with a
bricks-and-mortar presence in your community) can save you time, effort and
maybe even some cash. For merchants whose only presence is online (such as
Amazon.com), even if the prices are not lower than those available in your city,
you may still see a savings if you aren't charged sales tax!
9. Use personal shopper services.
Lots of bigger retailers have complimentary personal shopping services. While
some retailers want you to think that these services are only for the big
moguls, it usually isn't true - if you have a good idea about what you want (a
monogrammed terry cloth bathrobe, for example) a personal shopper can find it
much faster than you can and will also know whether that item simply isn't ever
in inventory at this store. By the way, don't forget to show your appreciation
to a diligent personal shopper with a tip in a holiday card dropped off the next
time you are in that store.
10. Have a sense of humor and perspective.
The Queen wants to let you in on a secret: in five years, 91.6% of the people
on your holiday shopping list will not remember what you gave them and, in fact,
may not remember you either. So the Queen pleads with you in Her most persuasive
voice: please don't let holiday shopping consume your life and bank account.
Life will not end if you don't give Aunt Gertrude the only gift that FBI
investigators would say she really wants. Leave room for homemade gifts and
cards. Leave room for imperfection - after all, the only truly perfect shopper
is the Queen.
And She is not going to be doing your shopping.
Merry Christmas from the Queen
Christmas Planning and Decorating Ideas from Party411.com
Christmas Planning Guide
Corporate Holiday
Party Planning Guide
Decorating411
Christmas Decorating411
Santa's Costumes
shop
Corporate Holiday Decorating411.
Creations For You!
Christmas Party Creations for You
Great
Christmas Party Games and Activities
Christmas Games
Have a Gift Exchange
Holiday Cookie Exchange
Winter Activities
Great Christmas Party Themes
Happy Holidays and Have fun, from
Party411
and
The Party Girl
©
Party411®
|
