Cyber Mundane

On this over-hyped Cyber Monday, I thought I'd leave you with an iconic compound screengrab which pretty much summarizes how I feel about the whole thing. 

Available choices for a very common type of men's pants at one of the most common catalog retailers.  Every single choice sold out or not available until 2014 - and it's still 23 days before Christmas.  Forget about getting the jump on it. 

My husband and I learned long ago to side-step the rush.  We simply buy what we want when we want, our efforts decoupled from the madness of any particular tradition or holiday.  I picked up my "Christmas present" about four months ago because I've learned from abundant experience that there is a 100% chance that it would have been out of stock if I'd waited until even the pre-Thanksgiving time period to buy it. 

But that still leaves the predicament of other family members, many of whom neither contemplate nor announce their gift preferences until the season is upon us.  You'd think it would be a straightforward exercise to procure a common pair of men's pants, but it's not.  Best of luck to all of you in your hair-pulling holiday shopping endeavors.