Stand-Up

Day 353 (13) – Xmas Shopping

After a productive, but somewhat taxing stay in NYC, it’s good to be back home. The past few days have seen a range of activities (from Apartments to Music: APTS -> APPS -> UPPS -> UMPS -> AMPS), and I’m happy to be in familiar settings. Plus we’re less than a week away from Christmas, and I’m done with all of my Christmas shopping… Ok that’s a lie. But “haven’t even started” is close to “being completely done,” right?

When I think about why I always wait to the last minute before getting gifts (after all, Christmas is always on the 25th, it’s not like it changes from year to year like Chanukah), I think it comes down to “deadlines.” The “deadline” (which comes from the old Roman days where if you missed a delivery date you were killed by a line of lions, or linons if you will…) for Christmas is December 23rd (not much is open on the 24th). The deadline for some of the other things I need to get done is sooner, so shopping falls by the wayside.

Now some of you might be thinking – “Doesn’t waiting till the last moment to get people gifts mean that you don’t really care about them?” And I say no. Survival is important to me, and to survive, I must have to food. To have food, I must have money to buy food. To have money, I must work. To work, I have to deliver on projects. To deliver on projects, I have to meet deadlines. Therefore, if I procrastinate on things pertaining to my own survival, clearly that’s what I do with things that are important to me. My family is important to me, so it’s only natural that I wait until the last minute to get them gifts. In fact, to get gifts early would be to say that I didn’t love them.

So take that all you over-ambitious early gift givers trying to make me feel bad. Take that.