With the restrictions announced yesterday, many of us probably had a little panic set in. Will we get to do our Christmas shopping this year? Will we be able to celebrate the same way? Hopefully, the answer is yes. but as we have seen, things can change quickly.
And there are options. I never realized quite how many, but there are options.
If I said the words “online shopping”, many would immediately think of the big stores and places like Amazon. I’m not going to say they don’t exist, but you know all those small shops, the ones many of us like to browse through, looking for those unique items you just don’t find in other places? A lot of them have web pages or Facebook pages and are more than happy to do online orders. And many of them would be more than happy to have your business.
Many will ship items out or do curbside pickup. Yes, you may not want to spend time browsing through a small shop in person, but it doesn’t mean you can’t browse virtually. If you had seen something some time ago and don’t see a picture of what you are looking for, there’s always the telephone. Call and ask.
And there is always the option of a donation in someone’s name. You know that person who is really hard to buy for? We all have one or two on the list. Is there a local cause they would really like to support? That could be an idea.
Or gift cards. They will still work after all this changes again.
Or, maybe even move the celebration. If we can’t all gather for a feast right now, maybe we can put it off for a couple months. I’m not saying move Christmas. It is when it is. But twenty people can gather for a meal in March the same way they could in December.
The thing is, these are not problems we can’t solve. And stay safe at the same time.
