Friday, December 19, 2008

Christmas Shopping Anecdotes

I'm in the midst of wrapping presents this afternoon. We got about half a foot of snow this morning as Al Franken moves into the lead in the Minnesota Senate recount. I've some amusing things to share in regards to my Christmas shopping. Yesterday, I bought a Vikings Winter Combo (hat, scarf, gloves, rope) for a friend of mine for $9.99. Per societal expectations, I removed the $9.99 sticker from the packaging before wrapping it. Just then, I noticed a sticker on the back that said the item was originally priced at $25. For some reason, I couldn't resist leaving that sticker on. Isn't that what Christmas is all about, though? Buying $50 worth of presents, but having the recipient believe you spent a hundred?


This same friend is also a huge movie fan (he has more than 500 DVD's). I had to chuckle back in the early 00's; you see, he had amassed hundreds of VHS tapes, but knowing its demise was imminent, spent thousands to upgrade to the magical DigitalVersatileDisc (I hope he doesn't find out about Blu-Ray).

I like to buy him 4 or 5 movies every Christmas, but how am I to know if I'm just getting him something that he already has? Easy, just get him a foreign film. :P But, seriously, I saw a few last night I thought he might like, so called him up. You might say, "But if you ask him if he has a movie, then he's gonna know what you're getting him." Not quite. You see, I ran about 20 movie titles by him, so he has no idea which are legit and which are just red herrings (yes! I've always wanted to use the term "red herrings" in a post).

I somehow found myself at Wal-Mart earlier this week and was quite surprised to see my first psychiatrist shopping there. She makes close to triple digits an hour, but shops at the House of China? Two miles down the road is a SuperTarget where you don't have to worry about seeing anyone wearing a vest (unless you go on Sunday afternoon where you might see a youngster wearing one. Vests look much cuter on the under-10 set. But you know what would be sad: a five year old wearing a Wal-Mart vest. I'm sure it'd be a YouTube sensation, though. Kinda like that O'Reilly kid).

10 comments:

Rocketstar said...

$25 tag, I like it.

Are you guys getting pounded with snow this year?

Go Franken!

Thomas said...

Before this morning, we'd only been getting a few inches at a time, an amount I didn't feel justified snowblowing. Today's six inches, though, point to getting the Thrower out.

Fivethirtyeight.com says that Franken's lead is going to be reduced, but that he should wind up with around a 70-vote lead.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/12/franken-appears-likely-to-lead-after.html

Coleman is seeking to prevent certification of the recount.

Eric Curtis said...

Thought I was finished with my shopping, but yesterday, I ended up grabbing a few more things for my sisters.

Amazon had Arrested Development as their Gold Box deal two days ago. I begged my dad to buy it because it's such a great show. Well, being my dad, he wanted to watch the first episode online befor committing to a huge 28 dollar investment. The next day I get an email saying he loved it, but couldn't find it on the link I sent him the day before. Oh the pains of missing out on a good Gold Box deal. I told him I'd send my set up, but it felt strange not to add a present for both of my sisters.

I got my youngest sister the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If she likes it, I'm going to get her a couple more seasons for her birthday.

My oldest sister just finished her EMT training at only seventeen! She's said she was going to be a doctor for years, and it looks like it might happen. I'm so proud of her. I got her a stethoscope.

Finally, (I swear I'm not trying to make my dad look bad) I opened his present because I suck at waiting, and I kid you not, it was a vest. I think I'm going to grow side-burns and a pornstache now.

Thomas said...

Eric, sorry you missed out on the Gold Box Deal. "Arrested" really is a great show. So much smarter than most shitcoms. It's nice to see the guy who played George Michael has hit the big time. I've been a fan of Bateman's since he guested on "Silver Spoons" in the early 80's. There's been serious talk of late about an "Arrested" movie. I would certainly be there on opening weekend.

Most teens like the Buffster. Being a doctor is quite ambitious, but given her relation to you, I'm sure she has what it takes. I don't know what to say about the vest. Perhaps a friend could take a pic of you wearing it and then post it to HotorNot.

Eric Curtis said...

Hotornot, huh. I see some fun to be had with that...

Hope it didn't sound like I was being ungrateful about the vest. My Dad tries really hard, he just hasn't admitted the '70s are over yet. Beside, he's one male living with a wife and two teenage sister in a house with only one bathroom. He's got to be under a ton of stress

Unknown said...

Hm ... I think I see a business opportunity here ... pricing guns, complete with price tags (all for amounts over $25). Buy one, re-tag all gifts and be the hero of the party! Yes ... I think there would be a market for this!

Great post! BTW ... hope you don't mind if I follow you and add you to my blog roll!

Small Footprints
http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com

Brian Mongold said...

Ha, can't remove that $25 tag. I sent out 7 Walmart Gift Cards. :) Only personalized gifts were for my mother and the wife. The wife got an iPod Touch as her primary gift. Also got her one of those Tassimo Hot Beverage Systems. 90% of all gifts were done online. The rest was at Target, with the exception of the gift cards.

You should have bought a Bears hat instead. :)

BTW, Love Arrested Development.

Thomas said...

Eric, don't worry. It's quite obvious you love your family. I posted a pic of myself to HotorNot last year. It did quite well (typically in the 82 percentile).

Small, your pricing gun idea is brilliant! Thanks for the add. Your posts are very thought-provoking.

Brian, getting him a Bears hat would be good, but an even stronger reaction would be had if I bought him the movie "Brokeback Mountain". Here's some background on that:

http://minnesota-meanderings.blogspot.com/2007/05/brokeback.html

Last night, I bought him a fake lottery ticket, you know, the kind that says you've won a lot of money. Can't wait to see his reaction.

Anonymous said...

Please don't talk about Christmas shopping. I'm a paperbag length away from hyperventilating with the idea I'm not going to get my shopping done this year.

Brian Mongold said...

The brokeback gift would be hilarious! However, the fake lottery ticket is priceless. I love your creative gift ideas.