Saturday, December 10, 2005

An E-Christmas Miracle

Ok, so im 31 years old and my mom STILL asks me what I want from Santa Clause every Christmas. As if that's not embarrasing enough, My parents actually never officially told my sister and I that Santa Clause does not exist. In fact, we both believed in it until an embarrassing age (I'll never tell). When you're from a small town in the south, you'd be surprised what you'll believe and equally as surprised at the age you'll reach before you realize you're the only one who still believes it.
I digress. So since my folks still live in Small Town X, and the nearest Mall/retailer-Worth-A-Damn is over an hour away. Sourcing Christmas gifts that wont immediately find their way into the re-gifting closet can be a challenging dilemma. Since both my parents still work, that further decreases the chances that they'll get up off their asses and drive an hour away to a town that has stores that don't sell chicken feed and bloodworms.
I leaned pretty quickly that saying "Mom, I don't need anything this year" doesn't work either. That will assuredly result in a gaggle of gifts under the tree, the likes of which probably sat on the shelf right next to the chicken feed and bloodworms. So, starting last year, I made an executive decision. Since my parents insist on getting me things for Christmas, I will assist in making sure those gifts are usable, wearable, likeable, and generally ok. To accomplish this, I have devised an interactive Christmas list (using excel) that clearly presents the items which I am most interested in at the moment. I subdivide the list into like items and cross divide that by price point. But wait, I don't stop there, I also include a weblink to the shopping cart I have pre-set up with the items I want from each particular retailer. Of course size, color, monogram, etc are all also included neatly by column. Now, my mom can simply click directly through to Barneys.com and get me that cashmere smoking jacket I've been eyeing this year rather than wasting her money and my time on an item purchased locally that I have no intention of ever using.
I realize how this must sound, like im an unappreciative spoiled asshole who doesn't understand the true meaning of Christmas. Well, maybe you're right. But atleast I'll get to feel bad about myself in a cashmere smoking jacket rather than a saddlebred poly-nylon blend blazer. Talk about adding insult to injury....

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