On this last day of November, the cusp of December and the holiday season, our President-Elect is busy vetting candidates for his cabinet posts and other administrative positions in preparation for his ascent to office on Jan. 20.
As it turns out, I, too, have been busy vetting people. You see, over the years I have found that, paradoxically, it takes a village to do one’s best personal shopping. Thus, I have spent the last month assembling a Dream Team of shoppers to make my holiday gift-giving merry and bright.
My approach to assembling a Shopping Dream Team is to aim for diversity. By this I mean I am looking for a variety of viewpoints, approaches and attitudes that will contribute particular strengths to the program.
I would suggest to President-elect Trump that he fill his cabinet with people who are not like-minded and who have opinions and philosophies that spread out all along the political spectrum. And certainly a cabinet of yes-men and yes-women should be avoided.
For my team, I consider many types of shoppers. There is the year-round Christmas shopper who doesn’t mind sharing that she has been finished since last July: “Yep, done shopping and the presents are all wrapped,” she humbly brags. The year-rounder’s counterpart is the shopping social butterfly: “I like to wait and do most of my shopping on Christmas Eve. I love the crowds,” she claims. “Plus you can get some great, last-minute bargains.” Well, OK, that’s a good point.
You have the strategic planner who creates detailed lists then plots out the route to the necessary stores offering the listed gifts. On the opposite end is the serendipitous soul who wander the aisles waiting for that “aha” moment when just the right gift appears before his eyes.
Balance is the key. Both a Year-Rounder and a Social Butterfly will be needed as well as a Strategic Planner and Serendipitous Soul.
But the timing and the efficiency of the the shopping experience is only part of the equation. Shoppers’ attitude about the money spent must be taken into consideration. For example, if I enlist Opulent Winfrey, who never considers price as long as it is the right gift, then I will need to balance her with Penny “Doberman” Pinscher, formerly with Scrooge and Marley, Ltd., who will make sure every nickel is frugally spent. (I would strongly suggest to President Trump that he be especially vigilant about the spending plans of his advisors and look for a Doberman of his own.)
In addition to talented and motivated consumers, The Shopping Dream Team will need logistics and support. We will need workers to scour the ads and clip coupons for the shopping soldiers who are in the field.
It will be necessary to do statistical analysis of when and where the best times to shop are at any given moment. Perhaps we can call on those one or two statisticians who predicted a Trump election victory.
Once the shopping is finished it is time to wrap the presents. Stewart Martha is my go-to guy for all things decorative. He has a great sense of style and will be perfect to head up the gift-wrapping sector. And since he would already be there, he could work his magic by offering decorating suggestions for holiday parties I might host. Christmas festivities can get complicated very quickly.
Standing on my front porch as the guests arrive, brushing the new fallen snow from their shoulders as they shiver and come inside, and seeing the joy on their faces as each one receives his or her artistically wrapped perfect gift, well, that is the magic of Christmas.
In the final analysis, a well-chosen team’s help in planning, organizing and executing decisions can make the difference between success and failure for any endeavor — be it Christmas shopping or governing a country.
