My Mum
I Once forgot to get my mum anything for Xmas. On the big day I was busy stuffing a turkey with a carrot in my mouth when I was reminded of said fact. That year my Mother recieved a Carrot with a bite out of it. I was never able to foget it
(Killa, Tue 27 Dec 2005, 22:12, Reply)

Does Re-Gifting Count?
I re-gifted several items this year. Gave the secretary the body lotion/soap/&tc kit I got from a co-worker. I happen to know for a fact that he hits the after season sale buys these things for a song.

Boss of the boss of the boss gave the members of the Holiday Retreat Planning Committee a cheap votive candle holder that she picked up on sale at a discount store.

Now picture this...I have thirteen cats...fire...jumping animals...Hello, Prudential?

That got re-gifted to a friend of the b/f who likes candles and has daschunds.
(darfy1, Tue 27 Dec 2005, 21:00, Reply)

To: A Friend From: The Dollar Store
Glow stick clip on hoop earings.
(britishbroccoli, Tue 27 Dec 2005, 20:03, Reply)

wow
it seems half the people posting on this QOTW read it as "what shit presents have you bought your friends / family?". That QOTW would be here: www.b3ta.com/questions/presents/

Ah well.

Only thing i've ever panic bought is a whole assload of rice when i got to uni. Good thing too, it's all i have left for the forseeable future.

Oh and I am determined to start a panic buy of some random arbitrary item with my mate. We think greetings cards will do. So we plan to save up literally (hundreds of) pounds and buy every card in every shop in this damn town. Even the ones they keep back in the stock room, we'll demand they sell us those too.

As we do this we shall run around screaming that everywhere is out of cards and we'd better buy as many as possible.

We also think doing this right in the middle of summer when absolutely no holidays are approaching will just complete the effect.
(mrcheese989, Tue 27 Dec 2005, 18:30, Reply)

The hell of working til 8 on Christmas Eve.
About 4 years ago I was working in Marks and Spencer - evil place - and took full advantage of their treble time pay on Christmas Eve. It got to 4 and I realised I'd completely forgotten to buy any presents. I didn't have time to do a mad dash around the shop on my break (all of 10 minutes) and was going to a party straight from work, so I had to rely on the staff shop for my present-buying needs.

My family/friends received the following:

Mum - tights and some biscuits.
Dad - an ashtray that looked like a petrie dish. He doesn't smoke.
Sisters - a box of christmas cards to share and some more biscuits.
Everyone else - biscuits.
( Fictional Emma, Tue 27 Dec 2005, 17:32, Reply)

I don't know
if my dad panic purchases some of the gifts he gets me, but it definitely seems that way. This year he got me (along with a few respectable gifts) a packet of caribiners.

Other presents I've received from him over the years include a cap bomb with a mini parachute, a little wooden ship and a Grand Prix filofax. He forgets that I'm not 8 and a boy.
( Fictional Emma, Tue 27 Dec 2005, 17:20, Reply)

Excuse: broke
I bought my mum a hairnet from Boots one Christmas Eve, just like Ena Sharples - the Victoria Beckham of her time - used to wear. It was the cheapest thing they had that didn't come in a pack of three. The receipt of this present caused a certain amount of controversy and distress in the Scaryduck household, and I was never allowed to forget my Christmas Of Shame. Ever. Like Charles Foster Kane, she went to her grave with the words "Hairnet!" on her lips.

She was the lucky one - my brother and sister got what I could grab from round the house. A handful of walnuts and a half-used bog-roll.
( Scaryduck LIKES EGG, Tue 27 Dec 2005, 15:55, Reply)

co-op does it better
Last year my grandparents decided to pull a surprise visit on me a couple of days before christmas. The only thing is we'd already arranged to get together in the new year instead and so I'd not bought any presents for them. I thought I'd have time after christmas when the sales were on and I could get more for my money.

They live about 45 mins away from me and rang as they were setting off.They just wanted me and mr pechogonas to have our presents for christmas and thought they'd have a run out in the car as the weather was nice. This didn't leave me time to go into town to buy them anything (I don't drive).

I spent 15 mins frantically tidying the house and then went to the co-op late shop over the road to see what I could find. I always buy my nan some 'just brazils' and my grandpa some 'fry's turkish delight' every year, but the best I could do on this occasion was the equivalent co-op own brand varieties at 99p a box. And a pot plant.

They arrived and we swapped presents; myself apologising profusely for my meagre offerings, explaining my original plan; my nan being lovely and claiming it was worth it just to have something to open on xmas day.

They phoned on xmas day and thanked me for the presents, and me, wracked with guilt, thanked them for the great presents they had given me.

Throughout this year I have occasionally thought back to this and vowed to make it up to them. This year I bought my nan a beautiful brooch and my grandpa an expensive book, plus the obligatory choccy brazils and turkish delight, this time of the M&S variety.

In the phone call this year my nan effused about her lovely brooch and my grandpa's book, but asked if next year they could have the sweets that we bought them last year, the cheapo co-op ones, because they tasted so much nicer than the M&S ones.

The moral of the story kids. Don't feel guilty about last minute buys - you never know, they are not only cheaper, but they might just be appreciated more too.

Oh, and M&S sell expensive shite.
( no longer a user, Tue 27 Dec 2005, 14:12, Reply)

Ha.
This year apparently Santa was in such a panic he didn't bother to buy anything for me.
(thick as a brick I think a no, I mean a yes, but it's all wrong, Tue 27 Dec 2005, 13:15, Reply)

Bought a second-hand kimono for my mum in Kyoto for 800 Yen (about $10 Aus), but when I got home, I realised it had a fairly dodgy, yellowed stain on the inside - right around the bum area.
(I'd had a few sakes prior to buying it, so it went unnoticed in the shop).

Tried to fix it by cutting the stain out of the lining, which made it look even worse.

Then I realised I hadn't bought anything good for my nana.
Started thinking ... Hey, she's pretty short ... if I just cut the kimono in half (eliminating the botched sewing job/stains), I'll have a nice housecoat for nana, and enough left-overs for some cool cushion covers.

She loved her new 'dressing gown'.
Wandered 'round the house, bowing and saying, "Ah, so!" to my cousins & I, which was fairly dodgy ...

... but not as dodgy as her 'loving' grand-daughter ...
(Celerydemon, Tue 27 Dec 2005, 0:22, Reply)

well everyones christmas presents
and my sister birthday presents*...i forgot it was tomorrow...








*still hasn't bought anything and its 10pm on boxing day...shame that.
(Tormentedpuffin bleughhhhh, Mon 26 Dec 2005, 22:00, Reply)

for fancy dress thing
xmas-themed, fancy dress flab burning keep fit thing ... sounded odd, but hey ... got the funny hat, an eyepatch, a silly wee inflatable parrot,a long coat and a tricorne hat
- all at the last moment

arrived

"oh, pilates!"

imagine my etc etc
( writerblock ... embedding disabled by request on, Mon 26 Dec 2005, 20:01, Reply)

does anyone know ...
... where i could buy a pornographic trivet?
( writerblock ... embedding disabled by request on, Mon 26 Dec 2005, 19:57, Reply)

Earlier thus year
I decided to drive, Lands End to John O'Groats via every mainland county in the UK. I couldn't have chosen a worst time as petrol went up to £1 a litre.
Panic buying was a problem, until I got to Scotland where no one was panicing. It was more like, no petrol = no work = time off.

The company I work for, still has two drums of diesel sitting in a field somewhere.
( David Bardell Diks - In Car 956, Mon 26 Dec 2005, 19:12, Reply)

I bought my father an airfix Harrier kit.
He was 44.
( TN, Mon 26 Dec 2005, 18:41, Reply)

Blind Panic....
Any kind of buying (with the exception of eBay and Amazon, or any other online store) is panic buying for me....

You see, if I go out into a large town/city with lots of people, it immediately triggers a full on panic attack, with hyperventilation and stuff!!

Lets just say that this year was easy... and an excuse to sit trawling eBay, and pay virtually sod all for presents!!

Cant wait for the pills to kick in though... had enough of being a spacker, and cant wait to hit the pub for a pint!

:-(

No length or girth.... sorry, it's the medication, see....
(assistant commissioner terra blanche, Mon 26 Dec 2005, 18:27, Reply)

Why panic-buy?
When you can panic-steal? Christmas is full of houses and flats with nobody in coz they are at thair parents/daughters etc. I am not condoning panic-theft, but it seems to me like a potential solution if the shops have all closed on Xmas Eve.

Only drawbacks are you might get panic-arrested.
( gaijintendo Regular Member, Mon 26 Dec 2005, 12:52, Reply)

Hey baby...
Love tokens. Simple and classic.

However, the chance that said love tokens will be cashed in when what your girlfriend really wanted was a holiday to the Mediterranean is a rather small one.

Made even smaller when you've said "Well, cash these in and I'll give you a pearl necklace to make up for it"...
(scentless_apprentice takes two bottles into the shower!, Mon 26 Dec 2005, 12:35, Reply)

Oi! Rushy!
"So i got him a bottle of vodka. Which i drank myself. He got the empty bottle though. Its the thought that counts."

No. It's the spirit that counts.
(Mori, Mon 26 Dec 2005, 9:06, Reply)

Booze.
Lots of it.
For potential emergencies.

Like when I get thirsty and the shops won't open till Tuesday.
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Sun 25 Dec 2005, 21:04, Reply)

I just realised....
I live along way from home, and my mates are cunts, so I have to buy for myself. On Christmas day I've brought myself a blow job in a bar, Which my mates took photos of. And a hooker for the night who is the best shag I've ever had. Yay for Christmas in Thailand.

I think she's lieing about the lenght and girth
( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Sun 25 Dec 2005, 20:22, Reply)

t'was not at xmas
But the day before my mothers birthday... I thought i'd get her some chocolates, a cake or something similar. Down at the corner shop i thought "Hey, why buy Milk tray etc when this strawberry swiss roll is 10 times cheaper, and you get more for your money."

You know it's the thought that counts, if that thought saves my wallet some harm then it's double the thought. Right? Right?
( Rainbow Mong, Sun 25 Dec 2005, 20:07, Reply)

This Christmas
I bought my Grandmother a tin of sweets. I was in a rush yesterday.

I forgot she's diabetic.
(wonderbrawl was pronounced dead on, Sun 25 Dec 2005, 18:54, Reply)

A traffic cone
'nuf said
(Anduril, Sun 25 Dec 2005, 13:44, Reply)

Jesus action figure
'nuff said
I really couldnt think of anything and so picked up the closest thing to hand.

It's rather cool though and i'm thinking of keeping it, it has fully poseable arms and everything!
(Voidedge, Sun 25 Dec 2005, 9:13, Reply)

stupid
i once bought my mother a copy of "Stay" by East 17.

Yes, my panic buying led to that being Christmas no.1...
(blackfacedfightinggibbon, Sun 25 Dec 2005, 6:52, Reply)

Not sure why . . .
A porno mag featuring lactating coloured ladies.
(garrison, Sun 25 Dec 2005, 2:58, Reply)

Why I no longer bother with Christmas
Well, at least I don't bother with my family.

See, one year I actually tried. My mother had gotten her ears pierced late in life, liked emeralds, and liked small earrings, so I got her emerald studs. My sister loves guns (yes, we are American) and likes things that go on the wall, so I went to eBay and got two gun ads from 1950s magazines--one a sign-up ad for the NRA and one some ad for some rifle--and mounted them nicely in nice frames. I bought her husband, my brother-in-law, some Mickey Mouse-themed bank, since he likes Mickey Mouse (and guns).

My mother thanked me profusely and has never once worn the earrings, so far as I know. She has, however, worn tiny Starship Enterprises that dangle from her earlobes.

My sister smirked sickly at my efforts, as if only a retard like me could think that she might like gun memorabilia. And the bank was apparently just not right, either, as my brother-in-law accepted it with a falsely hearty "Ah, Mickey!" that implied that it was probably better than a pornographic trivet, but not much.

My mother just gives me money nowadays. My sister? Her latest effort included a mini mag-lite and a pair of earrings made from tiny dysfunctional dice (each one lacks the one- and six-spot sides). None of us understand any of the other, we're all just clogging up one another's houses with non-biodegradable evidence that we don't understand one another, and you know what? I quit.

From now on, it's nothing but panic buying from me, or at best sending family members crap via Amazon. The hell with it. At least crappy books can be pulped.
(Tullia, Sun 25 Dec 2005, 2:19, Reply)

I'm not normally a last minute shopper but....
sma=s

some one is not feeling festive....hey b3ta ;)
(Oops....did I say that out loud cos I really bloody want to., Sun 25 Dec 2005, 0:41, Reply)