So where have I been for the past month? I've been finishing my second block of medical school, that's where. I'm still pretty new to this medical school thing, and not always the greatest time manager, so I had to put blogging on the back burner. Alright, so time management may have less to do with it than does obsessive-compulsive studying so I can be absolutely sure I won't fail the tests I take. Looking back on tests, I'm pretty certain that I am still going to be in medical school, and may have done better than last block. I definately feel like I knew more this block than I did last block. Now hopefully I don't become too obsessed with doing better every time tests roll around, or I will kill myself when a really hard block comes around.
I have managed to find time for other activities besides studying however. My roommates and I, and our neighbors three doors down all celebrated Festivus. For those of you unfamiliar with this holiday, it has its origins in the television show Seinfeld. Our combined households decided to celebrate it on December 9th, the Friday before my test week began. We decided that for the Feats of Strength, a person from each household should be chosen. I was chosen for my household due to my unparalled studliness and incredible strength and dashing good looks. Because our neighbors household is all girls, and to avoid any potential awkwardness, our visiting friend Scott was chosen to fight for the honor of the girls house. We fought until we were both exhausted, and then called it a draw. A week later, as I was passing the girl's house and saw Scott on the floor in the living room, I decided to end Festivus quickly, and snuck in and quickly jumped and pinned him. And that is how Festivus ended.
Since studying and test taking has taken up the majority of my free time up until this past Friday (Dec. 16th), I hadn't had any chance to go Christmas shopping until this week. My first attempt came on Saturday, the day after exams. I made a quick run to Target in mid afternoon. The Target in my town is part of the area mall, and Saturday was not the most intelligent of days to attempt to fight the mall alone. I ended up getting a few personal items and then spent most of my time just trying to get out of the mall area.
I waited until Monday to return to the mall to conquer Christmas shopping, and this strategy worked a lot better. If you didn't know, the majority of people who work are still working early on Monday afternoon before Christmas, and don't have their vacation time started yet. I walked around Target again, and made a few phone calls to mom to attempt to get more ideas for family gifts. If there's anything that makes Christmas stressful, it's trying to decide what in the world to buy your family. And if you think that's stressful, you should try doing it at the same time as a few thousand other people the week before Christmas. The scene is akin to watching starving refugees descend on a string of buffet bar restaurants.
That is probably why more and more people are turning towards internet shopping. No matter the time of day, or the place, you can log onto the major stores and do all your shopping in the comfort and quiet of your own home. No crying babies, no pushing and shoving, no frustrating waiting on people who are hunting the perfect parking spot, no struggling to make it to the store only to find out that what you're looking for is out of stock, no trying to beat closing times or opening times. If you want to shop at 3 a.m. in your skivvies, then internet shopping is your ticket there.
So if internet shopping is so wonderful, why have big department stores at all? Well for one, not everyone has access to the internet. Secondly, shopping online won't support your local economy either. Remember that old guy who runs the jeweler's shop in the downtown district? He's got plenty of great items for you and will probably give you even better customer service than you could get at a huge chain store. Plus, he may very well live down the road, and be father to those two little girls you always see hopping onto the school bus in the mornings. Supporting that kind of business is good not only for your shopping (because those small town shops are probably a lot less crowded than the major carry-everything stores), but it's also good because the money you earned in your town will stay in your town, and will eventually come back around to your pocket when it is spent again in the community.
Sadly, I didn't do all my shopping in the local small shops. But that's ok. Target employs people who live in my own town, and pays them the money I spend. I even have a friend who works at Target, and while I was shopping, I got to join him in the mall when he was on his dinner break. I may have had to suffer the stress of searching the aisles of the stores for my items, and weaving my cart back and forth between other people, but I also got to cross paths with a friend, and know that the money I spent at the store he works at will go towards paying his paycheck, and that's a little something I can add to the Christmas spirit.
Don't forget to dump the change in your pockets in the Salvation Army buckets as you leave the malls this year. Merry Christmas.
