After Holiday Shopping Can Be Deadly

With Valentine’s Day having just passed, Easter being right around the corner and the Christmas count down beginning earlier and earlier each year, will it ever be safe to go to your local drugstore again? Customers pushing each other. Calories calling your name. Will there ever be a week without an after holiday sale?

I am guilty of the crime of being an after holiday sale huntress. If I go into any CVS or Walgreen's within a month after a holiday, I will search for the bargain candy. I don’t exactly eat it either. I tend to store it for a rainy day or until I clean again and realize it’s turned white. I buy it mainly because of the discount. When there’s a sign in front of you with “75% off” on it, you tend to pay attention.

Though an admitted huntress, I am not out for blood. If another customer sees an item when I do and takes it, I do not fight them for it. A bag of peanut M&Ms, while tasty, is not worth jail time. I’ve seen some shocking fights in this aisle. There was once a woman who grabbed a bag of Snickers just as this elderly lady was going for it and threw it to her son at the end of the aisle.The older woman “accidentally” hit the other woman with her cane. Words were exchanged and both women were asked to leave. I have certain family members who enjoy the thrill of a fight in this aisle too. I try to be in the next aisle over when I’m shopping with them. Just because they’re family doesn’t mean I need to share a sentence with them.

I think these post sales are more vicious now more than ever. With the economy being how it is, you either need to get your bargains or go without. I used to always see people shopping for “people they didn’t really care about, but felt obligated to buy things for anyway” during these sales. Nowadays, I see people who are shopping for gifts for people they love, but couldn’t afford to give their special someone something on the actual holiday. When I see these people, I always back off. For the time being, I can afford full price presents. If there ever comes a time when I’m unable to, I’d like to hope that someone will pay me the same courtesy.

What’s most interesting about these sales is that I’ve seen the left over items become full price again once the bulk of the items have been sold. Case in point, while shopping at the Christmas Tree Shop a couple of weeks after Christmas, I got this hot chocolate gift set for 75% off. On my next trip, I saw the same set in the food aisle at full price. Unless their inventory gets extremely banged up when it’s being shipped and/or shelved, this set was the sister of the one I bought. I have a friend who once worked in retail. Apparently, it’s very common for unsold holiday items to return to storage and be placed on the shelves again the following year. Candy takes years to expire or so I’m told. I guess the candy I buy was made in the Dark Ages then.

For candy sale hunters, the day after Easter will be the real holiday. Thanks to Easter Baskets, this post holiday sale is a sport. Unlike at Christmas when, except for the popcorn tins, everything is on the lower shelves, the stores stock the baskets to the roof. You must train all year to be able to climb to the very top shelf, before anyone else, to claim your prize. This is one hunting skill I am not equipped with nor do I care to be. I do wish those brave souls the best of luck though. Please try not to drop anything on me when I’m on the ground filling my shopping cart with Peter Rabbit and his friends.