Posts Tagged ‘shopping’
It’s always a bad idea to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. The last time I did, I ended up with a grocery bill $50 higher than usual and wound up throwing out several meals’ worth of food a few weeks later when it all spoiled. Even if I am in desperate need of food, I always make a point of eating a good meal before stepping into Safeway.
Once again, the morning after a major holiday is littered with early wake-ups and demonstrations of mass consumerism at its worst. As a marketer I should be excited that so many people are buying in to my industry’s messaging. In reality, though, I’ve never quite understood or respected the post-holiday purchasing bender.
As a kid, I always promised myself I’d start Christmas shopping earlier and earlier in the year. As a result, I never managed to finish buying my gifts until the 22nd or 23rd. One year I even found myself shopping on the morning of the 24th! I don’t know why, but my younger self seemed to thrive on the stress of last-minute shopping. It was exciting, and tiring at the same time. Hence the annual promise to “start earlier next year.”
I’ve never quite understood the phenomenon. People will wake up uncharacteristically early and sit outside in the cold and rain to wait for stores to open (again, uncharacteristically early) to shell out cash on so-called “great deals.” Given, many of these sales and discounts are pretty steep, but that doesn’t necessarily justify the 4am rush.