‘Tis the season and I hate it…sort of

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UPS truck

Courtesy of Wikipedia

No, I don’t really hate the holiday. I hate all the people getting in my way.

For some reason all year long people do other things. At the holidays, they do whatever it is I want to do. For example, my beloved Starbucks is so damn crowded that it’s a standard 10 minute wait. I didn’t wait at all for the first 10 months of the year.

Go to any restaurant and it’s packed with people who don’t eat out the rest of the year.

Where do these people come from and when are they going back?

The malls are jammed so I am trying to wait that out but I have a $15 off coupon good for any item over $15. If I can find something I want for $15 (which I probably won’t) it will be free. How good is that? If only all these other folks didn’t get in my way.

I was at our upscale frou-frou grocery store the Monday before Thanksgiving at 10 a.m. Wouldn’t you think most people would be working? Nope! I couldn’t get a parking place. Fortunately, I had purchased most of my holiday food the week before or it would have been bologna sandwiches.

Where are these people when it’s not the holidays? Don’t they eat? Do they only treat themselves to a latte at the holidays? (I would forgive them IF they were buying MY Christmas gift…)

My favorite thing about the holidays is that there is more on-line free shipping. That means I can shop in my slippers with my mocha latte without fighting for parking or a dressing room.

Every day the UPS truck goes up our street around 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sometimes he stops at one of the neighbors but sometimes he stops at my house.

He’s just like Santa in a mechanized brown sled and no tiny reindeer.

32 thoughts on “‘Tis the season and I hate it…sort of”

  1. “My favorite thing about the holidays is that there is more on-line free shipping. That means I can shop in my slippers with my mocha latte without fighting for parking or a dressing room…”.so funny.
    Such a following you have…so many LIKES….it would make a great newspaper column…one can see everything…you parking getting cut off by mean shoppers. Cursing as you enter the mall. All you need is Rosanne as your wing man 🙂

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  2. I thought I lived in a small town but all of a sudden all these people have arrived or just come out from under their rocks.:) I vow to shop online for everything next year. Also to get a very small tree, and to get rid of 90% of all my ornaments, and to buy store bought cookies and to order Xmas cards pre-signed. I mean it this time. Really.

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  3. I am thinking that i am very thankful that i am able to shop at least once a year for non-necessities for my relies and husband. Where do all these grinches come from, that is my question?? great post, thanks

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  4. Hi Kate, just dropping in after meeting you at Tracy’s party. I’ve been Christmas shopping today and the sidewalks were crammed with families walking five or six abreast at snail’s pace – getting in my way, stopping abruptly, almost tripping me up. Where do these people come from? They have no pedestrian manners whatsoever. The sooner they get off our streets and back to where ever they came from, the better… so much for the season to be jolly… falla lalla la… 🙂

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      • Wow–I was in the city today and there was not much going on. I’m wondering why. Maybe thinks don’t get cranked up here until next weekend. It doesn’t feel very Christmassy here yet, too warm, no snow. But the UPS truck is all over the place! Maybe everyone is shopping from home in Providence?

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  6. Sometimes I think I’m a little bit TOO fond of the UPS man. He brings me goodies, always smiles, and the dogs love to go cuckoo-crazy when he rings the doorbell. It’s a win-win. 🙂

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    • p.s. What’s a “mall” ????

      Just kidding … I haven’t stepped inside one in about six years, so I wouldn’t even know how to behave anymore. I’d likely be pushing people out of my way forcefully. I don’t like the regular crowds … I’m pretty sure the holiday crowds would be me over the edge. 🙂

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  8. On-line shopping and free shipping is a lifesaver! There are more people on the road, too. I don’t know where the extra drivers have been the rest of the year! I’m sorry your Starbucks has been so impacted, though. It just doesn’t seem right!

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  9. Haha- another entertaining post. I was just wondering this too! Why don’t these people leave their houses at other times during the year? I think part of it has to do with the logistics of vacation time- I think that perhaps it is common for people to save up their vacation for the holidays, and at a lot of jobs the vacation time you have accrued ends before the new year, so if you don’t use it up, then you might lose it. Maybe they are usually just at work much more of the time? Thanks again for writing!

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  11. Sometimes I find the crowds energizing and other times .. draining. I try to only go out to a store when I am in the former mood 🙂

    Today, I had great fun buying gift cards for my staff, on my dime, with my own ca$h. No Company gifts they say … whatever. That doesn’t mean there’s no gifts 🙂

    Happy shopping 🙂
    MJ

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    • I love shopping in October except the great deals aren’t available and the merchandise isn’t as plentiful. When I worked we had small (very small holiday bonuses — we weren’t allowed to call it a Christmas bonus) company bonus but most supervisors and managers gave small gifts too.

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      • I hear you there, Kate. I had a terrible boss for 10 years, got a great boss for most of 2013 and then we re-organized and guess who I got back again? Ugh. And no, he doesn’t say thanks or give gifts, either. But I am giving to my staff because I can and want to 🙂

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  12. I agree, Kate, it’s as though everyone comes out of hibernation during the holidays. I do love the holiday season, but I breathe a sigh when January 1st rolls around and things return to normal.

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  13. Not only could we not get a parking space in the lot of our favorite grocery store last week, we had to sit in a traffic jam because there was a line of cars waiting to get in the #$%&^& parking lot! Umm, hellooo, there are no spaces, keep it moving. OMG I hate this part of the holiday season…

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    • Yeah me too! I am not good before my coffee at Starbucks. There should be an express line for one coffee and you have to know how to order it. If you are doing your Christmas shopping there, It should be between 2 and 3 in the afternoon!

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  15. I always wonder why there is twice as much traffic (if that is possible) this time of year… is everybody sitting at home watching TV the rest of the year? I love my (!) UPS truck…. my heart goes pit a pat when I see it on the street… shopping online is much more fun than having to stand IN line! It’s Christmas every day!

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