Why we finished our Christmas shopping early
Article content
I believe we established a first for our household this past weekend. We started and pretty much finished our Christmas shopping … in November!
Traditionally, I tend to begin my own shopping about mid-December and finish up sometime around Dec. 22. I believe what sparked our early start this year was COVID paranoia. We never brought up the subject, but I suspect this is what we were both thinking.
With the recent lockdowns in Toronto and Peel Region, I figured that would begin a migration of shoppers from those areas westward into the Hamilton area. And if that precipitates a rise in positive cases in that city, resulting in a lockdown there, Hamiltonians will soon flock to Brantford, and the trickle-down effect might eventually reach Norfolk.
I’d rather not be out and about locally if that should happen. I feel a sense of relief knowing that all which remains is picking up a few stocking stuffers.
Christmas shopping is something I like taking my time to accomplish. I enjoy “window shopping” for ideas before making any purchases. When it comes to larger gift items, I will read customer reviews on the Internet before buying these products to give me the peace of mind that I’m spending my money wisely.
This year, we had a pretty good idea about what to get for our sons, their wives and our grandchildren. But going store to store and crossing paths with dozens upon dozens of other shoppers all masked up within some fairly confined spaces was not within my comfort zone. Knowing what we were after allowed us to enter these businesses, zero in on what we were looking for, pay and get out and move onto the next store.
It seemed a rather “cold” way of achieving something that is normally an enjoyable and festive experience. But the less time I’m able to spend in close proximity with others during this time, the better. The COVID caseload numbers reported daily by the Ontario government are becoming increasingly concerning.
The time spent shopping on the weekend was by far my longest period having to wear a mask since face coverings became mandatory. I still don’t know how some people can endure wearing masks for several straight hours every day. For the front line workers who are among this group of people, I salute you.
With the vast majority of our Christmas shopping now behind us, we can enjoy our free time in December without having to infiltrate what are apt to be exponentially larger crowds of people with each passing week. As good as it feels to have this task out of the way, I miss the old ways of shopping a day here and a day there in December without a single mask in sight. I’m not foolish enough to think that Christmas of 2021 will be like Christmas of 2019 and all other Christmases before that. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the pandemic would have lasted as long as it has already, and we may still find ourselves in this predicament for several months to come.
Christmas is going to be the ultimate test in seeing how it impacts the number of daily cases. There was a spike at Thanksgiving due to large get-togethers associated with the holiday, and Christmas is a bigger holiday yet.
For those who have yet to complete or even begin their Christmas shopping, please do so safely and be careful to avoid the crunch times when that safety could be compromised.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.