In the airplane safety brochures, you’ll read that in the event oxygen masks are needed, you should always put your own on first before helping others. Well, the same applies to holiday shopping.
The busy season already started with Thanksgiving food shopping, then Black Friday. Chanukah starts December 12, and Christmas comes less than two weeks later. We are approaching our deadlines. Parking lots are full; traffic is a mess. How do you deal with it all to come out with your sanity and holiday cheer intact? You take care of yourself first.
Shopping locally saves you time, gas and money. Many of the dollars you spend come back to you because local businesses help shoulder the tax burden. They also know it makes good PR to donate to local organizations.
Many times they are your friends and neighbors. We may not live in a Norman Rockwell-type town, but it is still a nice hometown. If we frequent local hair salons, restaurants and shops, then, yes, in those places “everybody knows your name.” They know your preferences and look out for what they think you will want.
An Englishman once went back to his hometown 10 years after he left, and the shopkeeper didn’t miss a beat before asking, “The usual quarter pound of cheddar, sliced thin?” Here that might also happen but be accompanied with a more friendly, “Where have you been?”
If you have forgotten the pleasures of shopping locally, come back to your hometown this holiday season. It’s bound to be a more pleasant experience than fighting the crowds at the mall. Lots of free or nearly-free activities are being organized too. You’ll be more relaxed and able to enjoy your family and friends, and worship in the right frame of mind.