Now that we’re into December, I want to share three Christmas memories. This is part one shopping. Bye the bye, this past weekend I watched the second of my holiday movies, “The Bishop’s Wife.” I have to say that I never get tired of watching these movies. I will probably watch it again in the coming weeks. I usually save “A Christmas Carol,” for the week of Christmas.
What I want to discuss now is CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!
“Angeles from up on high, tell us to go out and BUY” This quote is a lyric from a satirical Christmas song, “A Christmas Carol,” written and sung by Tom Lehrer, from his album, “An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer.” Now I am not anti-Christmas shopping, although sometimes it really gets out of hand.
Christmas has always been very special to me, first as a child, and especially that it was my father’s birthday. For a long time, I joined the throngs of shoppers, running around the beautifully decorated New York City stores, trying to figure out who got what present, then trying to find the best buy for that perfect present, then joining the masses, standing on line for hours to purchase those presents, and if you wanted the store to gift wrap them, well more time spent. I never seemed to enjoy the season.
So, I finally started doing my shopping at the beginning of September. First, I carefully researched every present I was giving, and to whom, finding the best buy, and wrapping them myself. By December I was finished. So, when those magical days leading up to Christmas came, I was able to wander through the city, visiting all the stores, marveling at the wonderful decorations, and listening to the Christmas music being played. For me, it was the way to truly enjoy the season.
Another Christmas shopping experience I had one year, was on the other end. The retail end of shopping.
I was seeing this woman who was a senior executive for Macy’s. She was in charge of the mail and phone division located at the New York City store. Through her I met several new friends that all worked at Macy’s. One was a fellow who I would sail with. My boat, his parent’s boat, and we both crewed on a racing sloop. The other became my weekly tennis partner.
Every time we would all get together, naturally the conversation would be about work. At that time, I had my graphic design, and television production company. So, I was left out of these conversations. One Christmas season, since my business was slow at that time of the year, I decided to experience the Christmas season as a Macy’s employee.
I asked my tennis partner, who was a Vice Present and International Buyer, to find out the possibilities. He called me, and said I was to start on the following Monday, I was pleased. He said we went to personal, yes personal; Human Recourses wasn’t invented yet. They asked him about my background. He told them I was an artist. Perfect! They had opened a small shop, located on the balcony of the 6th Avenue store, for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Well, that sounded easy, since I’ve been to the Museum’s gift shop many times. I asked what I would be doing. He said you’re the Manager. THE MANAGER! I’ve never worked in a retail store, much less manage it. Actually, it was a great experience. When the season was over, they wanted me to stay on, but I had to get back to my business.
The only draw-back was the Christmas music they played all day. Now I like Christmas music. But all they played for eight hours, was the Nutcracker Suite. Over, and over, and over.
