Buying Gifts for Christmas

Ever since I've joined this holiday sales job, I've been acutely bitten by the gift buying bug. Maybe it is due to seeing people spend so much on gifts. They're getting stuff for their husbands, wives, granddaughters, grandsons, girlfriends, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers. Often they're buying for the home. Things like electrical appliances, kitchen tools, home furnishings, Santa paraphernalia...

There is so much stuff out there, it is mind boggling. Large department stores are slush with things that are mountain high. I'm not used to seeing so much stuff in the shops and stores earlier as I see here now. There is a wide variety and choice of goods, and dazzling displays aimed at attracting customers. On top of that, due to the slow economy, stores are also encouraging people to buy with heavy and sometimes multiple discounts.

The war of attracting customers by slashing prices and projecting higher discounts in the media is for everyone to see and make a note of. Mails and flyers arrive on the post, with coupons attached, which can be used on the dats/periods printed. So what could people do in such a scenario.

Due to the holiday season, they are obliged to look for gifts. It is not merely obligation, but also a willingness to share love through gifts. Christmas is the most significant festival for many people in the Western worl, for which people wait the whole year. With the approaching of year end, the planning and anticipation starts. It rises on the graph as December progresses, and by the third week of the month, it is at its crescendo. There is a frenzy of buying and gift wrapping.

There have been ups and downs in the economy over the decades, but people do not completely ignore such important festivals. Even with the high unemployment, the overall problems that people are facing, the slashing of budget, the stock market losses of retired people, festivals such as Christmas are unerasable from the identity of a culture and community.

Whatever may be the rewards, the hardships, people buy gifts to that they could share their love and bond as family and friends all over again. To start another new year. Until that year ends and it is time to bond again with renewed enthusiasm and buying frenzy.