Pre Christmas madness

Yesterday I waited for almost an hour at the checkout line at Anthropologie. It was pure mayhem. Never before have I seen over a foot of clothes just piled on the floor and on tables, with aggressive petite women (and a few bewildered men) ducking into racks before me to ensure first right of refusal on the goods. It was a rare 50% off of all sale item event - bringing Anthro's prices on par with Gap. Totally understandable, for I too quickly became aggressive, and started fighting for the last non-size0 items.

This got me thinking, why this crazy madness before Christmas every year? I'm not bemoaning the loss of Christmas spirit for commercialism, blah blah blah. What I'm having a reaction to is the idea that one has to find the "perfect gift" for everyone on their list. The true act of generosity is giving someone what they need when they need it, not at pre-defined nation-wide dates that causes everyone to literally lose their heads. What ends up happening is what economists call "deadweight loss"-the pressure an panic of required gift giving ends up in unwanted gifts that cost a whole lot more than they're worth to the recipient.
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/freakonomics-radio/freakonomics-avoiding-unwanted-gifts-and-deadweight-loss

While heavily frowned upon in the west, the Chinese tradition of giving little "red envelopes" of money is actually the most efficient way to give - the recipient can choose however they want to spend or keep the money that would give him or her the greatest pleasure. It's the drive behind the gift-cards, in theory similar to cash but on paper avoiding the perceived-gaucheness of actual cash. It's been so long since I've given / received a cash gift that I've forgotten that this actually works, and I was reprimanded recently by my mother when I gave baby clothes to a cousin about to have a baby. What they really need is not more cute clothes / toys, my mother said, but money for everything you can't think of as a childless woman. Putting my "OMG how vulgar is that" reflex in check, I saw the genius in it.

So instead of this pre Christmas madness shopping for crap that your loved ones don't need nor want and have to feign "oh I love it it's just what I need" when they open the packages, why not follow a different tradition? Just wrap up the red envelope with a little slip of fortune-cookie type of wisdom "one thyself knowest the best", or Isiah style "It's two tickets to that thing you love". Expect a little gasp, a giggle, and a real satisfaction.

Now I have to go wrap all the crap that I bought for my loved ones. Sigh.