As you get closer to the ultimate resting place, you try to complete - or at least keep widening - your range of experiences. To me, it seems perfectly natural to want to do things you've never done before. How else can you really know what they are like?
So, throwing caution to the wind, I set out to add another experience to the rich pageant that is my life. I was up at the crack of dawn on the appointed day and ready to face the challenge. Did I need crampons? A compass? A packed lunch and a thermos of tea? No, none of the above. I just needed my wallet. You've guessed it. For the first time in my life I headed out with people of all races, all creeds, all shoe sizes, to rummage in the bargain bins and stand in queues at the Boxing Day sales. Well, to be strictly accurate, I only went to three sales. I just wanted enough to give me a taste of this annual extravaganza so I could write about it. Besides, the cricket was due to start at 11am so there was no time to waste. First stop was a clothing outlet where there were plenty of bargains to be had - and plenty of people having them - but the item I was interested in was not marked down. On Boxing Day! I felt a tad miffed. But my spirits were about to be lifted at a big red outlet - not that I should really mention colour but I've written it now so I'll have to run with it as my delete key is broken. I only needed one small item but when I approached the appropriate section, I was confronted by several rows of possibilities. Could I be bothered? A quick glance at the very first item in front of me ended any doubts I had. There it was; the exact item, in the correct colour, in the correct size and with a price tag of only $6. With a purposeful stride which clearly communicated my success to other shoppers, I strode past the long snake that was people returning unwanted gifts. Please allow me to digress for just a moment. How can people shamelessly list their unwanted gifts on the public forum that is Trade Me? I've just checked the "Unwanted Xmas Gifts" category and among the listings I found a necklace inscribed with the words, "Mom, I love you to the moon and back".
Anyway, I strode up to a checkout. There was more good news in store (little shopping pun there). I was informed by the cashier that the item was marked down today and would cost me $1.50 - 75 per cent off! Could my day get any better? Well, no but I was still happy. And I had already observed the whole gamut of shopping styles from the laidback holiday approach befitting the day after ingesting too much pig to the grimly determined style in which speed was important and total money "saved" was critical.
My final visit was to a department store where I employed the laidback holiday approach to wander past lingerie, cosmetics, handbags, soft furnishings ... until I decided I should call it a day and return home with my $4.50 savings intact. What have I learned from these visits? I've certainly learned that there are savings to be had. And that there are an awful lot of products in the big stores which bear the fateful words, "Some assembly required." By far the biggest lesson, however, was to withhold all next year's shopping until Boxing Day 2016.
-Wyn Drabble is a teacher of English, a writer, musician and public speaker.
