The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

Well it's that time again. Christmas. It seems to start earlier every year. I'm not a very patient person; slow traffic upsets me, slow computers upset me, and ten mile long slow checkout lines enrage me. There's at least 15 check-out lanes in most large stores, yet for some reason at least five of them are closed during the holidays. It doesn't make any sense....or does it? Think about it for a second. You're standing in line with a cart full of items, five minutes pass, then ten, then you see something that someone else is buying and you want that, or you remember someone else you have to shop for and you step out of line to do that. It all makes perfect business sense, the longer you're in line, the more you'll buy. You might say to yourself "I won't wait 20 minutes in any line, I'll shop somewhere else." Will you? Where? Every store in America is packed to the brim with people. They've got you by the preverbial cojones. I suppose it's all worth it though...I mean, if you don't stand in line to buy gifts, you wimp out and buy everyone underwear and socks with a nice card, what do you think you'll be getting next year? It's a vicious cycle, but in the end, when you're sitting next to the tree trying to assemble something (with instructions in French and Taiwanese only) you can be sure the 15 hours waiting in line weren't a complete waste of time. Then you have eleven months (or ten if the trend continues) to recouperate. Oh, and if you were planning on buying me underwear and socks for Christmas this year, save the money, I've got three pairs of both, that should last me another two or three years.