I have tried to maintain a positive tone to the blog during the Christmas Season. That is very difficult, especially if you have been shopping. The news media claim that consumers are shopping less this Christmas. That news media doesn’t know our part of the country exist. All the folks must have come to our area to shop. The crowds are maddening. Parking is like playing bumper cars at the carnival. I just came back home and ordered most of my stuff off the internet.

A most astonishing thing did happened while I was shopping this week. A clerk in one of those large chain stores actually came up and ask if she could help me. I almost fainted. I usually never see an employee who speaks, except at the checkout stand. There are a lot of employees but they are usually in a huddle, laughing and talking with each other. This is especially true at places like Circuit City where I need the most help to explain the electronic gadgets. Although I get angry, I never want to bother them because they seem to be having such a good time with each other. It’s just as well they don’t help. Most of them are young teenagers who speak in a rapid fire, geek language, so I don’t understand them anyway. At least one of those in the huddle is probably a college marketing major who is plotting how to display items to better entice dummies like me to buy more and thus increase the store’s market share. The other sales kids are mostly talking about the opposite sex and other teenage stuff. Their main response to the customer is NO. That allows them to get back to their conversation. We did trap an employee the other day and convinced him to sell us a camera. He was an interesting looking individual with multicolored hair. I think it was a male.

The other morning we went to Wal-Mart early in hopes of beating the crowd. It didn’t work. There are about twenty checkout counters but only two had checkers. The lines extended to the back of the store with baskets loaded, ready to be charged. At the same time we saw a covey of managers walking around with clipboards. I guess they were trying to figure out where to put the happy face signs with the numbers falling off. I don’t usually see those signs except on TV.

Anyway, I have decided to stay on the porch and do my shopping. I moved the laptop to the table near the Christmas tree so I can stay in the spirit. I may need a little of that eggnog with the rum to help. The postage for the items I purchase is often more than the item itself. I figure I’m still ahead. The postage is still less than the insurance deductible I pay for the bodywork on my car after a visit to the parking lot at the mall.