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Desperate men turn to diamonds
Washington Times ^ | 20 December 2005 | Stephanie Mansfield

Posted on 12/19/2005 8:52:52 PM PST by Aussie Dasher

Call them "Desperate Husbands" -- men who wait until the last minute to go Christmas shopping. Men who wear procrastination as a badge of honor.

Girlie men shop online or visit the mall in November, wrap their presents and stash them in the closet.

Real men put off shopping until Dec. 24.

Because men don't shop. They buy. They are goal-oriented. And what they end up buying is jewelry.

Diamond jewelry, to be exact. Square-shaped or pear-shaped, from Harry Winston to Wal-Mart, from Tiffany's to Target, the most dangerous place to be on Christmas Eve is between a desperate husband and a jewelry counter.

"We have men rolling up at 3:30 on Christmas Eve," said Katie Mulcahy, manager of the Old Town Alexandria jewelry store Mystique. "They know exactly what they want. We love that. They're easier to sell if they're desperate."Men, she explained, do not have a Plan B. Most likely, in the most dire cases, say five minutes before the store's closing, they will buy up rather than down. "A lot of times you can guilt them into spending more," she said. Because at that point, the only alternative is a Chia Pet from the 7-Eleven.

Mystique rakes in at least one-third of its annual sales in the four days before Christmas, Ms. Mulcahy said. "I'm sure it's the same all across the country," she said. "Men put off Christmas shopping until the last minute. It's like homework for them."

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: blokes; christmas; christmaseve; diamonds; men; shopping
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To: KellyAdmirer
best gift idea at the last minute is to wander into Tiffany's on your way home from work and buy the cheapest necklace or bracelet you can find. Once a girl sees that eggshell blue bag it comes in, all reason and rationality leaves her head. You could put a necklace from Wal-mart in there and she wouldn't care, it is the bag that counts.

I wanted to drop you a line and say thank you for the great gift idea!

I'm a notorious last-minute shopper, and I happened to read this thread last Monday night, on the verge of my 'weekend' (my work schedule is Thursday - Monday) and I hadn't gotten my wife a gift yet.

After reading your post, I decided to take the subway in to Manhattan on Tuesday and go to Tiffany's. Well, the NYC Transit Workers Union threw a wrench into that plan.

I took a shot and searched the web for Tiffany's and to my surprise found that they have a couple of mall locations in NJ - so I took a drive there and found a very nice bracelet for her, not incredibly expensive, either.

(By the way, for you younger Freepers, Tiffany's has lots of earrings and pendants that are very pretty, for less than 150 bucks--and they all come in 'the blue bag.')

Due to my work schedule, my family and I had our Christmas dinner last night, and you are 100% correct about "the blue bag effect!"

All the women in the room, from my mother on down to my nieces, went wild just at the sight of the rope handles on the bag, let alone the bag itself.

Thanks a lot, and a very Merry Christmas to you and yours!

81 posted on 12/23/2005 11:16:47 PM PST by Gigantor (1964 - The Warren Commission. 2004 - The 9/11 Commission,)
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To: Gigantor
I wanted to drop you a line and say thank you for the great gift idea!

My pleasure. I told you, I speak from experience. I usually go to the one in Manhattan, too. Merry Christmas to you and yours, too. :)

82 posted on 12/24/2005 3:41:25 PM PST by KellyAdmirer
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To: snarks_when_bored

"Guilt" as an action word. LOL


83 posted on 12/24/2005 3:45:49 PM PST by 1rudeboy
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To: Aussie Dasher

I actually did my shopping on Dec 23rd -- and yes, diamonds are a husband's best friend. Chicks love ice!


84 posted on 12/24/2005 3:54:40 PM PST by You Dirty Rats (I Love Free Republic!)
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To: Aussie Dasher
I'm gonna hang around some desperate men with a little velvet sack.

85 posted on 12/24/2005 3:55:05 PM PST by William Terrell (Individuals can exist without government but government can't exist without individuals.)
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