I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. My dear wife just left to shop. She said she might not see me for a day or so. It’s the lines to pay—they are endless. However, it does indicate that we are experiencing a healthy consumer economy in the Valley with Mexicali’s help.
Just last weekend, I went to JC Penney simply to buy some socks. Socks, mind you! This is an essential clothing item that has nothing to do with the holidays. Not these socks anyhow. We do have Christmas stockings hung by the fire.
There were night club-like ropes guiding you to the checkout where a half dozen employees were frantically ringing up items and bagging. I don’t get the customers who are there when I get in line and remain long after I’m gone. It’s as if they are taking out a mortgage or buying a car. Maybe it’s an extensive credit check, or they are buying a lot of stuff I couldn’t see. I hope it worked out for them. I’m just eager to pay and get out of a crowded store.
I do need to go out this week and do some pie and candy shopping, dessert, and stocking stuffer stuff. I’m not looking forward to it. The holidays bring out people who are unused to the etiquette of shopping stores. They park their basket in the middle of an aisle and get lost looking for an item. They forget where they left their basket, and it becomes a roadblock preventing frantic shoppers from reaching the free samples station. Of course, they haven’t eaten lunch. They ran out hoping to beat the crowds. That was a foolish dream.
I’d like to see an express section of a store where there are just the basics and a high-speed checkout lane. OK. Now I’m dreaming.
The majority of my gifts are mailed checks in Christmas cards. I try to get these out early so it helps relatives with, you guessed it, SHOPPING. I don’t want or need gifts, but other people do. Give me a good cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie, and I’m happy.
It also makes me very happy to see children visiting with Santa Claus. Last week we attended the El Centro Library’s Gingerbread Tales and Treats. Santa had arrived before us. He got a lift on a fire truck. The line to see him and have your photo taken with him wrapped around the library’s large meeting room.
Betty, a Parks and Rec Commissioner, chose raffle tickets and a library helper called out the winner. Gift bags with coloring books, crayons, and other items were distributed as were smaller bags with tiny books and delicious cookies.
The library was wonderfully decorated by the staff. Lots of lights, a ten-foot snowman, a screen showing Christmas scenes, and the words to the songs playing over the sound system. Santa was comfortable in a red chair behind which stood a giant Christmas tree. Beside Santa was a mailbox for letters from children to request their favorite things. The library’s Christmas scene was complemented by a giant Gingerbread Man who went through the crowd posing for photos with children and adults.
The library’s extravaganza definitely pumped up my Christmas spirit. Many thanks to the staff and Carla, the head librarian. Throughout the Valley celebrations and shows have been multiplying. IID inaugurated a Christmas lights show at the fairgrounds. Of course, there was Christmas in a Small Town also in Imperial. Heber, Calexico, and other towns were planning celebrations.
Post-COVID, post-presidential elections, and the blessed cool weather have brought out the crowds. Enjoy the season, and try to be patient as you wait in line.
Richard Ryan is at rryan@sdsu.edu