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Shopping for Yourself Here in the US, you spend a lot of money at the end of the year because you give Christmas presents to your family, relatives, and friends. Starting in the late-November, shopping malls get very busy. Up until Christmas Day, everybody is busy shopping for others. Yet, once Christmas is over, shopping malls get busy again, because this time people shop for themselves.“Shopping for yourself” seems to mean that you take a received gift to the store where it came from and exchange it with something you like. Most stores accept exchanges even without a receipt. Customarily, gift shoppers understand that the gift recipients would return or exchange the gifts later. I’ve heard that some people dear to be engaged in “fraudulent acts” in which they return or exchange the gifts at more upscale department stores than that the items came from by changing the gift boxes so as to get more money. Some department stores have measures against such practices. During a Christmas season, sales people ask customers whether the purchase is a Christmas gift. If so, a card with a message like “Please show this proof of purchase for return or exchange” will be inserted in the gift box. When I went to a store at the end of the year, I saw a long line in front of its customer service department. That's America. I was impressed by its practicality. Santa Kurosu |