It’s the 26th of December, which means that it’s time for the after-Christmas sales (unless it’s Boxing Day wherever you are).

I dutifully wandered down to the Crate and Barrel, which had kindly sent me a postcard informing me of the huge after-Christmas sale. Big savings! it promised me.

So, there I was. In Crate and Barrel, surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of people who had all received the same postcard – affluent snooty housewives looking for new silverware; gay couples trying to decide if anyone would notice if they used this year’s holiday china patterns at next year’s Christmas parties; thrifty housewives looking for a deal with their bored looking husbands in tow; and the occasional stragglers like myself.

And then something happened that is proof positive of the existance of pure evil in the universe.

I looked at the discounted holiday merchandise – the plates, the glasses, pitchers, and more cutesy decorations than you can shake a painted and glittered stick at – and I looked at the regular merchandise that was on sale … and then I looked at the line snaking around the store that wasn’t actually moving … and back at the sale prices that weren’t really discounted that much … and a little blasphemous voice in the back of my head spoke up and said There’s really nothing here that I want badly enough to stand in that line. And, Ralph Lauren help me, it was true. The sale wasn’t that great, and I just don’t need cutesy plates and dishes.

So I left the sale. Without buying anything. Clearly, I need help …

Tags: Austin, crate-and-barrel, shopping