Today we got an e-mail from a friend regarding WalMart and whatever evil thing they're up to now. Something about boycotting them because they believe in eating babies. I'm not really sure, I didn't actually read most of it. I did write back saying it was too late for me to boycott them seeing as I had already completed my Christmas shopping entirely within the walls of our neighborhood WalMart.
When Aaron got home from work he confessed to me that he hung his head in embarassment at my revelation to our friends that I had done my Christmas shopping at WalMart. To which I crinkled my nose and said, "Uhh..why?"
Let's get a couple things straight. WalMart is dirt cheap. We are dirt poor. WalMart was made for young poor newlyweds. We set a pretty low budgetary limit per individual on our list and the ONLY way I was going to stay within budget and still get my family anything of substance was with the help of a dollar store or WalMart. He's lucky that I decided to go with the classier of the 2.
Ok so doing all my Christmas shopping at WalMart might be a little white trash, but this is our first real married buying presents for everyone Christmas (last year we were on our honeymoon over Christmas and we just took both of our families to see King Kong while we were all in Hawaii for the reception at Aaron's parents' house as our gift). Someday I'll get my Christmas gifts from Tiffanys, but for the time being WalMart will have to do.
I guess it just didn't occur to me until Aaron said something that people might look down on my choice of shopping venues. The thing is, no matter where I get my gifts, I like them to mean something or to be something the person really wants. My brother wanted a cool tie. I found him two awesome ties that fit within our budget. My mom wanted a jewelry box that could stand in her closet so that her necklaces wouldn't get tangled. I found a really pretty one that was expensive enough to allow all 3 kids to chip in and be a part of it but not so expensive that my brother (who has $20 to his name) couldn't contribute. My sister's gift has two parts to it, one of them is particularly meaningful, the other is something I just think she could get a lot of use out of. In the end, I don't think my family will care where I got their gifts, just that I really thought about what to get them and took my sweet time picking out things that they will probably get a lot of use and enjoyment out of. I swear I'm not white trash!
And so, wherever you get your Christmas presents this year, I completely support you. I'll admit, I did do the dollar store thing one year in high school (it was a pretty lean year all around and I didn't have a job), so whether you handmake your gifts, buy them at Dollar Tree, WalMart, Sears, or Tiffanys, I'm behind you 100%. If I am on your list this year, I give you a free pass to make my gift out of a cardboard toilet paper roll and marshmallows or to buy me $1 chapstick from the checkout line. I'll appreciate the effort no matter what!
(I think the real purpose of this post was me trying to convince myself that I'm not low class just because I so happily shop at WalMart. I totally thought nothing of it until Aaron said something. Does anyone else like WalMart as much as I do??)
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3 comments:
We love Walmart! I don't want to meddle into Aarons family issues but you gotta tell Aaron that Travis said it's fine to shop at walmart.
Kristy just bought a bunch of X-mas gifts at walmart the other day. Plus, I read in the news a while back that people have seen high profile celebs shopping at walmart. Hey, how do you think they stay rich?
Haha...I suppose I need to dismantle my pride. I'm not saying Walmart doesn't have its uses, it certainly does.
Low class is OK when you're just married. Rest assured that my budget for christmas this year is lower than yours (not that that's really a good thing, but I'll probably be shopping at walmart as well...and not that I'm married yet, but I'm a poor college student who will be getting married sometime in the near future). WalMart is probably my favorite place to shop for stuff other than groceries. Cheap is the way to go.
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