Saturday, November 29, 1997
"What the heck? Let's shop!"
By RICHARD HORN Staff Writer
This Christmas season, Aaron Robinson is grateful for early
shopping hours, a wide gift selection and home equity lending.
"I'm not kidding, we're getting one of those," Robinson
said, weighted down with costly bags and boxes Friday at the Mall
of Abilene. "We're getting a loan in January to refinance
ourselves, so we figured, 'What the heck? Let's shop!' "
Certainly the Robinson family's ill-advised debt plan is not
what most Texans had in mind when they finally paved the way for
second mortgages. But people live dangerously the day after Thanksgiving,
the traditional opening whistle of the Yuletide shopping rush.
Friday was not, as stubborn myth insists, the busiest shopping
day of the year. But try telling that to Karen Sanders, who started
her buying day at first light but still found herself dealing
with crowds.
"I walked through a mob of people who were downing doughnuts
and coffee in the parking lot, looking over store ads," she
said. "They're sick. But then so am I, I figure."
Among the booty collected by Sanders and her many colleagues
were the usual sweaters, ties, books, etc., and several of this
year's hot toys, including anything involving "Anastasia."
A few other gifts stood out:
- Doug Conner bought his son a Tennessee Oilers jersey and
hat, to some minds a risky gift in Cowboy Country the day after
the the Oilers beat the Cowboys. But that's exactly why Conner
bought them.
"We hate the Cowboys, have for years," he said. "We
didn't like it when the Oilers left Houston, but Tennessee's stock
just went way up with us."
- Cathy Dunleavy bought 20 Gigapets, at $15 bucks a pet. Three
of the virtual toys are for her own kids and the rest for sundry
stocking stuffers.
"I'm just glad to find toys that aren't violent,"
she said, "and I think these things teach discipline."
But 20?
"They don't make messes," she said. "They don't
reproduce."
- Scott Greer was dumbfounded by the gift his 42-year-old brother
asked for: "The Pet Sounds Sessions," a four-CD boxed
set of outtakes from the classic 1966 Beach Boys album, "Pet
Sounds."
"He's already got a couple of copies of the actual album,"
he said. "I just spent 40 bucks on rehearsal stuff they left
off the album. I guess he'll like it. I don't know why."
As usual, not everyone in the throngs of store crowds was busy
shopping. Mark Taylor, with hands free of bags, stood in Dillard's
watching the Aggie-Longhorn game and longing for a beer. He was
waiting for his wife to "buy out" the kitchen section.
"I've taken to doing a lot of my shopping on the Internet,
anyway," he said.
So why was he in the middle of a frenzied store mob, waiting
around, instead of settled in an easy chair at home? He just stared
at the questioner.
"You must not be married," he said.
Send a Letter to the Editor about This
Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story
to A Friend:
Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
|
