I tried not to, but I still got sucked into the trap of not feeling like I’d done enough in the gift buying department this year. It’s hard not to feel inadquate, especially when driving through Paramus and seeing all the big chain stores with their huge marketing campaigns. They all seem to say, “If you love your family, you’ll buy them stuff. Lots of stuff.” Corporate greed playing on the insecurity of holiday shoppers.

And it doesn’t help to *know* that you’re being manipulated by some guy with a marketing degree - especially when I usually angst over what I get people anyway. It’s like knowing the fashion world is seriously warped and out of touch, but still comparing myself with impossibly perfect models. (and coming up short) You know it’s a ridiculous trap, but you fall into it anyway.