The Adventures of LatteMan....
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The Adventures of LatteMan.... |
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Tuesday, January 03, 2006 I am probably alone on this but...I am one of probably only a handful of people that is NOT happy that the holiday season is now behind us (or mostly behind us, depending of course on your choice of faith).I feel like I just started complaining that, the stores have Christmas items out "already," and now I have blinked and Holiday decorations are 70% off, my beloved (Triple Venti) Gingerbread Latte at Starbucks is on it's 11 month hiatus, Valentine merchandise and SPRING CLOTHES are starting to appear in stores alongside that poorly stocked rack of Winter coats that are now sporting markdown prices. I went with the family to Target after our adventure on ice yesterday. The store was more crowded yesterday than it was for most of the shopping "season." Why? I'm guessing because of all those people that had no idea what to buy each other, and opted for the seemingly popular Gift Card. The problem, as I see it, though is the lack of the cheery Christmas Music. People have stopped being polite and returned to the rude, miserable, "Me First" jerks that they are 11 months of the year. Stores have already started laying the holiday help off, which shows in the lack of open registers and longer lines in the stores. The only upside (and I am reaching a bit here), is that the cashiers go back to talking to each other about their personal lives (no that is not the benefit... that is annoying, but I digress), and are no longer required to attempt to upsell me at the register. I do not need to be asked the million question list that some marketing group has decided will boost sales. "Do you need batteries for your purchases?" "Would you like to purchase an extended warranty from a company that will go out of business as soon as you need to use your warranty?" "You've already spent an arm and a leg at our store, how about leasing a kidney and buying a Gift Card for someone?" (OK, OK I am paraphrasing on that last one). A small benefit, but one that helps make up for having to wait at one of only 3 open (out of 15 - 20 registers) on a crowded weekend. I baked up a storm, and most (if not all) has all been consumed. But now it is diet season for most of my family, extended family, co-workers etc. So I am left without an excuse for baking, except of course for Mom is Nutz, who sucessfully begged, pleaded and gave me a location to send some more cookies. So this weekend at least LatteGirl and I will be baking away, with the safety net of having another location to ship the cookies off to so that DietCokeWife doesn't go ballistic about us trying to undermine her diet. Wow have I wandered off. Let us see if we can get back on point here. I feel like I never got a chance to enjoy the holidays this year. No not the days themselves, but the shopping and such. For example, in Tomkins Square Park in NY, there is a little tented market (for lack of a better word) that goes up every year. A hundred or so small vendors offering assorted goods for the holidays. Last year, I made 4 or 5 trips through there picking up little trikets, gifts, ornaments or just browsing through with a Latte on a cool evening looking at the goods. Not a big deal, but a pleasant way to spend a little time away from the usual rush of working in NY. This year, not one pass through did I make. For some reason this year, everything seemed so rushed, work was busy, no time for anything, hurry hurry hurry. And I hurried myself right through the season, and never got to stop and smell the Poinsettas. I want a do over. |
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