November 20, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Shopping.

I enjoy shopping for Christmas gifts. But I always do my buying a long time before the Christmas season. All through the year I would buy gifts and store them in the attic. When the time comes for me to wrap, all I had to do was tp pull the bags and boxes and sort them into piles. I hated the pressure of specifically going to buy a gift. So I planned ahead, thus making my Christmas season delightful. Now I order from catalogues and have things delivered. Soon I must mail items that can not be sent to Canada. And I have special gifts for the grandchildren that must be mailed too. So the season has begun to try to keep ahead of the required task. Kashina told me all about Walmart sales. It sounds like a horror story to me but she and her sisters love it. Black Friday is the big day. At 6:00 pm on Thanksgiving Day, Walmart opens their Black Friday sales. She tells me that people begin lining up mid afternoon, waiting for the doors to open. Kashina said they go every year. "It is so much fun," she said. People are friendly and everyone has a good time. Evidently it is like a big party. And the sales are worth the wait too. She reported a 54 inch television which normally cost $500. will be on sale on Black Friday for $250. No wonder people wait in line. I am afraid I would rather do without. A friend of mine in Bethesda has always done all his Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. To me, it sounded just awful but he has always shopped that way. He said it is a perfect time to shop because by the afternoon, no one is in the stores so the service is great. My comment to him about the availability of sizes was countered by telling me that it does not matter about size. "The object can always be returned," says he. That shopping style would not work for me. I like to plan ahead. In just a few days I will be done. Then I will enjoy the season.