According to the CEO of Wal-Mart, this Christmas morning what you will find under your Christmas tree will be lots of underwear and socks. Excuse me? Underwear and socks? Not under my tree, thank you very much.
The relatively new CEO, Mr. Simon, sees Americans as cautious this year what with all this recession stuff still going on and people without jobs. Okay – I can understand that. But, he also stated he wishes to reverse Wal-Mart’s five straight quarters of declining revenue and one of the ways he can accomplish that goal is to stop what we see on commercials all the time — that lovely “Rollback Pricing” where the little yellow smiley face that I have come to hate so much I want to slap, rolls back prices and everyone quickly runs to Wally World to buy, buy, buy.
This year, Mr. Simon is not rolling back prices. But he expects us to shop at his stores — so mark my words, if you think you’re saving money by buying socks and underwear at Wally World this year for Christmas….think again. I’m betting those prices are going up, up, up.
But that’s not really the point is it? No. The point is WHO wants to get underwear and socks for Christmas? Not me. Not by a long shot. In fact, if I find socks and underwear in my stocking this Christmas….well that underwear darned sight better come from Vicky’s Secret if ya know what I mean. Socks and underwear for Christmas. That’s downright un-American. Yeah, the Joy of Socks…
Hey – we’re on a budget too. We’ve been saving out pennies and tightening belts and our Christmas will NOT include socks and underwear. Actually, I’ve already purchased a few goodies for Devoted Spouse such as….oh wait…he reads this blog. Nevermind.
This reminds me of my childhood — you see my parents were Depression-era folks. They understood what it was like to do without – truly. By the time they got around to Christmas for my generation they still had that Depression-era mindset and every Christmas morning my brother and I would wake to one lousy toy, clothes, and here’s what was in our stockings….nuts and oranges. If I’m lyin’, I’m dyin’. Nuts and oranges. Now, really, what child wouldn’t be absolutely thrilled with nuts and oranges?! Especially when that same child can go down to the local Safeway and buy nuts and oranges. Took me years to get them to understand that stockings were for honest-to-goodness goodies like chocolates, and small toys. In their minds they remembered when it was a treat to have a real orange. I finally had to get a friend’s mom to talk to the stepmother to get her to understand that nuts and oranges were just not right. The following year we got more toys, books, and goodies in the stockings – yeah baby. No more socks and underwear either…well, except from my great Aunt Margaret but she worked at this upscale ladies’ boutique and her presents were fancy with lace and stuff that horrified my stepmother. Heh Heh – I loved Aunt Margaret and her fancy-wrapped gifts.
Anyway, Devoted Spouse knows the Christmas stocking is for cutesy things like chocolate, lottery tickets, and diamonds (well a girl can hope). If he wishes to shop at Wally World for my gifts, well I wish him luck because I was there not long ago and I didn’t see anything that struck my fancy. I wouldn’t mind a gift certificate from a certain bloggy-friend-jeweler I know, though. The day he fills my stocking with grocery store produce is the day I put all his Craftsmen tools on eBay….sigh…
