The Me Shopper

So that’s another Christmas over with and Santa has rolled away his sleigh. Stocking up on Christmas presents in your T-shirt and sandals doesn’t exactly put you in a particularly festive mood – neither does the thought of sitting down to a hearty roast dinner when its 70 degrees outside. This is our third Californian Christmas and it still takes some getting used to.

Another New Year and another Pasadena Rose Parade, the highlight of which this year was spotting a woman in the crowd in front of me wearing a nappy on her head as sun protection (yes it was hot but I'm not totally sure the diaper-sunhat combo really worked).

Another set of New Year's resolutions to be made and broken, although this year I'm going to add QUIT SHOPPING to my regular list.  With only six months left in California we have to start planning for our impending move back to the UK and I realise I'll be returning with a lot more clutter than I started with.


Shopping is one of America's favourite past-times, but in the run up to Christmas, apart from the flurry of excitement around Thanksgiving and Black Friday, the shops here in Pasadena were surprisingly devoid of shoppers.  The rush literally starts the day before Christmas Eve – when most stores suddenly reduce everything.

I used to watch those old Americans films where everyone was dashing around the night before Christmas  to complete their present shopping and think that's so disorganized – why had they left it so late?  Now I know  it’s not disorganization – it’s perfect planning.

Christmas Eve is the day to do your Christmas shopping, and I don't just mean for everyone else – why should just your family and friends be the ones getting all the gifts.  Go on indulge.

 

Of course just like back home any shop sales here will always include those bizarre shelves of imported stock that you have never seen in store before, the rails of clothes which really shriek out I’m not a bargain I’m one of those things that will sit at the back of the closet and you will never wear, but what the heck! It’s $10 reduced from $60!

And yes it is very tempting.  When you enter a shop and realize that everything – yes everything – has 50% to 60% off then of course you can’t walk away.  I made the mistake of re-visiting my local Anthropology store (very upmarket and I swear I never buy anything unless it’s on the bargain rail) to discover that I could now buy two sweaters for less than the sale price of the one I had spotted a day or two before.  How could I resist?  And yes there is apparently an official name for this - I became a “Me shopper”, or the "self-gifter" as one local newsreader referred to it, which almost makes it sound like you are donating yourself to a charitable event. And what could be a more worthy cause?

So I stood in a very long line to make my purchase(s) and then hurried home; no need to gift wrap or pop them under the tree of course.  Just tuck them away and produce them a month or two later to the husband’s hesitant  questioning of “I’ve not seen that before, is it new?” To which of course I can honestly reply “ No darling, I’ve actually had it quite some time….”

Black Friday

It’s not often I make a comment that America has got something right, but when it comes to shopping, having major retail sales before Christmas rather than after definitely makes sense.

The day after Thanksgiving Day is known as Black Friday.  This is the day when major retailers go into profit after 11 months in the red.  This is the day America hit the shops.

There was a bit of a fuss this year because some shops were actually planning to open their doors at 11.00 pm on Thanksgiving Day rather than waiting until one minute past midnight on Friday.  I don’t know what it is about opening a store in the small hours that makes everyone think they have got even more of a bargain than usual, but the psychology works.   If you want to grab a deal, you have to be there – it’s the early bird that gets the worm.

And some early birds certainly got more than they bargained for this year.  Along with news reports of police using stun guns on shoplifters during the opening frenzies, one woman was apparently arrested for pepper spraying her fellow bargain hunters to get them out of her way.  She was referred to by the newsreader as a “competitive” shopper. Disabling your rivals with a noxious substance competitive? Where I come from you'd call that cheating!!  

Americans do like to shop and they do like to think they are getting good value for money.  They lovingly collect hoards of “coupons” – discount vouchers which regularly appear in the mail box or come with the Sunday papers.  To me the word “coupon” conjures up connotations of war time ration books and a world of frugality – here it is exactly the opposite.  Coupons enable you to spend, spend, spend.  

The idea of being able to buy all our Christmas presents at discount prices was certainly very tempting and late on Friday afternoon we took a stroll to our nearest Macy’s store.  Elbows at the ready I was disappointed to discover the store itself was surprisingly deserted, although the shop floor did resemble the remnants of a rummage sale.  We did bag ourselves a couple of bargains but to be honest Macy’s is one of those stores that is always issuing “coupons” and having discount sales.  Canny shoppers can always get 10 or 20% off and it does make you wonder if anything is ever sold at full-price.  Again it’s all about the psychology.

After Black Friday comes Cyber Monday.  For anyone crushed in the stampede or too busy rubbing toxic dust out of their eyes to grab the Friday deals, Cyber Monday is the day to go on-line and double click on e-bargains galore.  Apparently it is the busiest day of the year for internet shopping, and the only hazard  would appear to be a mild case of RSI. 

Personally I think all this consumerism brings out the worse in all of us, and whilst I may be too late for this Christmas, I’ve told my family in the future we need downscale and economize.  Maybe just a small can of pepper spray will do the trick next year.