Discounts push holiday sales up

News & Observer ^ | 12/27/13 | Lindsey Rupp

[kearnyirish2]

“In what is left of our immediate and extended families, the gift exchanges are basically over, sending cards is about a 50% proposition, and the desire to decorate is nonexistent. It’s as if sometime in the 90’s we all took our foot off the gas and whatever momentum we still had came to a screeching-azz halt with the advent of Obama. It’s only fractionally economic, more of a Carteresque malaise on steroids; if there is a demographic that consists of people who decided that the trappings of the Christmas season were no longer worth it, we’d qualify.”

I hope the spirit is still there; I don’t mind watching the economic buzz slow down. It is a time for family and faith, and has been distorted into a bizarre spending binge. I think the decorations centered around the Nativity are nice; the secular “winterfest” stuff is just weird...

[SamAdams76]

People just aren't putting up decorations like they used to. Every Christmas season, we used to take the kids driving through neighborhoods at night to check out the displays. We'd give them mugs of hot chocolate and play Christmas carols on the radio as we checked out all the lights.

This year, it was very subdued. Many homes that used to go all-out only threw up a few light strands, if that. Speaking for myself, I haven't rigged up outdoor lights for several years now. Just haven't gotten into it like I used to but we still go a little crazy indoors.

Ditto for Christmas shopping. I went to almost all gift cards a few years back because I got sick of relatives (especially the younger ones) asking for receipts so they could take their gifts back and get something else. When I was a kid, I would never think to ask an aunt or uncle to take a Christmas gift back for me. It just seems so crass and ungrateful.

[kearnyirish2]

I agree; “subdued” is a good word for it.

I’m not a fan of gift cards (too much like giving cash outright), but they do ensure that the recipient will get something they will really like/use. With kids it is impossible to track what books or games they have (unless you are very involved with them - I don’t mean your own children, but other people’s children).

I couldn’t imagine returning gifts like that, either; I don’t know what the answer is.