I Am A Total Convert.

Ok. So I realize that it’s 2006. Almost 2007. But I have never been big on purchasing things over the Internet. It’s the old lady in me, who always kind of mistrusted the whole idea. Giving away my credit card number to the anonymous masses has never sat very well with me. Also, until last year, I didn’t even HAVE a credit card, so it was kind of a moot point. The usual fears of what-if-someone-gets-my-number swirled around in my head. Mostly though, it’s just been plain ignorance on my part, never ever having actually purchased anything over the internet, I just never really saw what the attraction was. Until now, that is…

First of all, it does indeed help to have a computer which runs on something OTHER than a hamster and a wheel. Secondly, it helps to have a credit limit of more than a hundred dollars. Yesterday, I did half of my Christmas shopping in about 45 minutes, without even having to leave the comfort of my office chair. First, I renewed my dad’s subscription to Time magazine. Then I went and bought a reflexology gift certificate for my mom. Then onto the Theatre Calgary website to purchase ‘A Christmas Carol’ tickets for our Christmas Family Outing. Then, dad wanted A ‘best of Victor Borge’ DVD. Which brought me to the Mecca: Amazon.ca. Where I purchased gifts for 3 more people (ie: alla you folks readin’!) Now, the clincher is that it seemed a little too easy. Is it possible to have everything that I have been looking for right here at my fingertips? All those obscure, hard-to-find items (Let’s face it, HMV does’t exactly have a Victor Borge DISPLAY or anything) and delivered right to my home in 3-4 business days? For free?! Impossible! Too easy! So, of course, I had to go find a harder way to do it. I needed to test out this new-fangled "Internet buying" idea. What if it’s cheaper in the store? Also, I am all about the instant gratification. So I thought, ‘oh, it’s not the same as going into the store and having it right away. And what if it doesn’t get delivered on time?’ So I refrained from completing my Amazon order and after work, I trudged down to my local Chapters store, where after wandering around the busy store for 20 minutes, trying to find a computer that worked or a salesperson to help me, sweating away in the overheated store, I realized I could be sitting at home drinking Baileys and watching TV. Only to discover—FINALLY!—that they didn’t have ANY of the 3 items I had been looking for, anyway AND they were more expensive than they had been on the Internet! Plus it was cold and dark and traffic was bad and it ended up being a COLOSSAL waste of my time. So, that was the clincher. I’m all for the joy of taking the time to shop and touch things and spend time picking out ‘just the right gift.’ But fuck it. I have more important things to do: like work my way through that big bottle of Baileys…

Happy shopping.