Love & Learn
Men Just Can't Help Waiting Until Christmas Eve to Do Their Shopping
If men were smart, they'd do all of their Christmas shopping on Black Friday. Yes, fighting the insane crowds all jacked-up on caffeine. Trust me, it's better than the usual alternative.
See, here's a little secret: guys suck at shopping. We hate it. We're not good at it and because of all that, we pretty much put it out of our minds.
"Thanksgiving's here? Bah. There's plenty of time to get my wife a present." Rinse and repeat.
Suddenly, it's Christmas Eve and you're running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to find a store that's open. And then when you do find one, good luck hunting down a retailer that actually isn't sold out on the one item you know your wife would go absolutely nuts for.
Sure you can order things online, but again, guys wait until the last minute and when express shipping costs $25, that's when you put the mouse down and head to the mall.
I've personally never had to worry about Christmas Eve shopping panics, but that's only because I'm Jewish. If I celebrated Christmas, I just know I'd be one of those men frantically pacing around a drugstore looking for something better than a vaporizer to buy for my wife.
I do it every year for my wife's birthday and Hanukkah too. I wait until it's too late to order online and then when there's only a day or two left, I head out to the local mall and literally spend hours going from store to store to store.
One year, I was so flustered, I ended up going into Hallmark and buying up a few nice picture frames. Then I went next door to Yankee Candle and lost an hour and a half of my life. My wife loves candles, so I figured that'd make a nice gift. But, oh geez, there are soooo many scents, which one would she like best?
I literally changed my mind 20 times that night and eventually grabbed a handful of pillars, including a "Birthday Cake" one. Candles and picture frames. Was I shopping for my wife or getting a bunch of Secret Santa gifts?
Needless to say, the gifts didn't go over all that well. She smiled and said, "Oh. Candles. That's nice." And then she proceeded to "teach me" about gift giving to the mother of my children.
Have I learned my lesson? Yes. Will I wait till the last minute again? Most likely. It's just in guys' nature.
But I'll tell you one thing: I'll never buy another candle or picture frame again!
What's the worst gift your husband or significant other ever bought you?
Photo via Lindz Graham/Flickr
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Craig Myers
AllisonWD
I personally enjoy all of your articles. Anywho, one year for my birthday, my husband got me shampoo. Because I "needed it." It wasn't even the kind I use! It will always be something we laugh about. This year, I made a wish list on Amazon, told him it is FOOL PROOF, this is what I want. Pick something off of here, order by this day, and wrap it up for Christmas -- that way, it's something I want, but still has the element of surprise. Terrible, probably, but necessary unless he wants to waste money on more shampoo.
tuffymama
tuffymama
butterflyfreak
I guess I'm pretty lucky as my husband always takes some thought and care in to choosing my gifts. I'm the one who sucks in the gift-giving department. LOL
the4mutts
AnonyMOUSE715
the4mutts
And if you break something that belongs to someone else, you should let them pick their replacement.
I've bought him a dozen gifts, and all but 1, were fantastic gifts, and he never had to ask for them, because I paid attention when he really hovered over a certain tool in the store, or goes"oh, that's so cool" about something he saw on tv. I'm a great gift buyer, and all I expect in return is to get me something I can actually use.
Todd Vrancic
This is why I always ask for lists. That gives me an idea of what to get for people. My rule is that a list must be at least ten items long, so even if I cannot find what is actually on the list, I can find something similar that the recipient would like.
That said, my wife has forbidden me to buy clothes for her unless she is there, because she says that the clothes I buy her are too small.
chelsea