The Hustle and Bustle of Holiday Shopping

I have a recurring memory every year around Black Friday. I'm standing in a store parking lot, waiting.

I'm waiting with my mom and nephew for the store doors to open. It's 5:30 AM. Doors open at 6 AM and we left our town at 4:45 AM so we could get there on time. The cool breeze flows through my coat and on my neck and I wonder to myself, "Why am I here again?" I remember a weird sense of excitement, waiting in line, watching all the people in front of me, wondering what on their lists they will be dashing to get. Will I have time to get what I need? What will happen if I don't get this "right" present? Will my kids be disappointed? Will they like it or will their faces show a slight disappointment when they open their package?

I don't know how long we stand the before the people in front of me shuffle forward. The doors are open. My heart flutters a bit and the butterflies start dancing in my stomach. Why am I nervous? It's just shopping, right?

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Photo by TheDigitalArtist via Pixabay

​We move in small steps until finally we reach the door, and we weren't even at the end of the line. All of a sudden I'm in the middle of chaos. People grab shopping carts and push one another to get to the aisle they need. The moms get snippy with one another and I hear name calling and great big sighs.

I look over and my mother is looking at me. "I'll go this way," she says pointing to the right of the store, "And you go that way." She nods her head to toward the left of the store. "And I'll meet you in the checkout!" I quickly walk down to where i need to go and that's when I see the worst of it. I'm in the toy isle with the other parents, watching in horror as they grab things from the shelf, push one another, and yell. When they are done. They act as if nothing happened and head out of the aisle.

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"There is NO WAY a toy is that important to me," I think to myself, as I stand in the aisle still staring.

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I tell myself if the gift is there I will get it and if not oh well, I didn't need it in the first place. I find what I wanted to get and head to the checkout. And as we left the store, I let out a huge sigh and felt the weight of the world fall off my shoulders, thankful we are done. But it doesn't last long as we pull into another store parking lot and people are acting just the same. I've never in my life seen grown women and men act like they did that day. I stopped going Black Friday shopping many years ago.

As I grow older. I'm wondering how we all became so greedy to the point where we are thankful for what we have on Thanksgiving and the same night, or even the day after Thanksgiving we head right out to shop for everything we DON'T have (my daughter made the comment on Thanksgiving). I've been thinking about it ever since. It brings to mind a quote from The Grinch:

"That's what it's all about, isn't it? That's what it's always been *about*. Gifts, gifts... gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts! You wanna know what happens to your gifts? They all come to me. In your garbage. You see what I'm saying? In your *garbage*. I could hang myself with all the bad Christmas neckties I found at the dump."

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This Christmas season I've made a promise to myself to slow down and enjoy the small things. Because that​ is the joy of the season for me. What is the most stressful thing for you during the holiday season? How do you find joy during the holiday season?

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