Column from The Watertown Gazette
Mother, Interrupted
By Debra Carpenter
"Too good to be true? Online Christmas Shopping"
It’s December, the merriest month of the year! Not only will
I finish this semester of classes on the 13th, Christmas is right
around the corner and the new year is on the horizon. I love the season, but
finding Christmas gifts for my family is usually a big hassle. Normally, I get
into the car, get into competition mode, drive to a crowded store a day or two
before Christmas, and attempt to buy the gifts. Well, not this year! This year
I decided to try online Christmas shopping, and at the risk of sounding
antisocial and geeky, I loved it! No fighting hordes of stressed out Christmas
shoppers, wasting gas only to find what I needed was sold out, or risking life
and limb to reach for that last must-have toy of the season. Instead, I sat
warm and cozy in my home and clicked the mouse a few times. Since I have my
debit card number memorized (Who does that?!), I didn’t even have to leave my
desk to grab my wallet. It was the most simple and relaxed day of “shopping”
I’ve ever had.
But there’s something about it that doesn’t feel right.
After making some purchases, and getting free shipping on top of great
discounts, I couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong. I had that
ominous feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop or lightning to strike.
There is no way that typing a description, clicking a button, and entering my
card number constitutes shopping. There must be some hidden catch, right? I’m
sure it would be funny to see my face as I clicked “Purchase”—a mixture of
elation and kind of creeped-out uncertainty. Since all my college courses are
online, I was able to sit at the computer and pretend to work on a paper while
ordering gifts for my husband. However, since I can’t really keep a secret, it
only took about 20 minutes for me to burst out and tell him what he could
expect this Christmas. And I thought it was only fair to inform him when I
received an email about an item being backordered the next day. Just for future
reference, don’t tell your husband his long-awaited video game has been put on
back order. You may not be ready to deal with the tears and Pandora’s box of
emotions that come flooding out. In fact, it may prompt you to cancel the order
and ignore your veto on traditional Christmas shopping long enough to purchase
the game from good old WalMart.
I was definitely sold on online Christmas shopping when the
first gifts began arriving last Friday—packaged discreetly enough for my 2 year
old daughter to believe my lie about it being an empty box—and I am not sure
I’ll ever go back to traditional Christmas shopping. In fact, I may never leave
my house again!…I’m kidding, sort of. Now, if I could just find a way to keep
our kitten out of the Christmas tree and our daughter from unwrapping every
present we place under the tree. Dream big, I always say.
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