Fighting my way through a crowded store with my arms full of packages is not my first choice of hobbies. My mother loves to shop, but I did not inherit those genes. The aspect that I despise the most, however, is trying to guess what presents everyone would actually appreciate. I used to have this ever present fear that all of my shopping efforts would culminate in a rushed trip back to the store or, worse, out to the garbage can. I could never develop any sort of confidence about what to get my Grandma or dear Uncle Arthur. Now, I can appreciate the stores, especially during the holidays, because I can walk through empty handed, unrushed, with all of my shopping already long finished. I do all my shopping on the Internet, now. Well practically all of it.
Online shopping didn’t save my life all by itself. Just because I started using the Web before any of my friends, I still had to make the decisions. And then, around five years ago, or so, I discovered food.
That wasn’t very honestly phrased, because I discovered food when I was still an infant. But I didn’t discover food as a gift idea until recently. You see, at that time I received a gift basket full of hardly edible sausages, processed cheese spreads (mostly chemicals I think) and crackers that were about as crunchy as a rock. However, the poor quality of what passed as food in that gift turned out to be my inspiration. “What,” I thought, “If I had received genuinely good food?” How different that would have been, and how much I would have enjoyed it.
Since that moment of momentous insight on my part, I have been a dedicated sampler of a variety of food gifts that I buy for myself on the Internet. I have found that the online gift food stores handle everything from shipping to the accompanying gift cards. Yes, I actually send myself a gift card to test the store’s dedication to detail. The Internet boutiques are now the sources for all of my gifts, except those gifts of my loved ones who happen to live very nearby.
These Internet shops offer everything from gourmet fruit baskets to lobster dinners (well, they won’t be alive when they are actually eaten), from wine gift baskets to cookie bouquets. The array of gift foods is really quite amazing.
For those on my gift list who live nearby, I usually assemble my own gift baskets. Even in those cases, the Internet comes to my rescue with helpful suggestions about how to make my self-assembled gift foods more interesting. The available articles also have great gift ideas for special people who often happen to be especially difficult when it comes to choosing a gift.
So help me thank the Internet for teaching me how to walk through an aisle of a store, empty handed, with a huge smile. I can do that, now, just to soak up the spirit of the season, whatever season it happens to be. I’m a tourist when I’m there instead of a frantic shopper.
