Walgreens mobbed with people who forgot Secret Santa gifts
The Walgreens convenience store on the corner of 16th and W. Wisconsin Ave is full to capacity with students that neglected their Secret Santa obligations, per several eyewitnesses.
A steady trickle of students turned into a stampede around 11 a.m. Sunday as hundreds of Christmas procrastinators faced a dire choice between giving a terrible gift and giving no gift.
“I felt like maybe I should go with Christmas chocolate, but I feels like then my secret Santa will know that I didn’t care enough to get something in advance,” sophomore Carla Dawson said. “Maybe I get them toothpaste or something?”
Max Cheltham, a junior in the college of engineering, was forced into having a secret Santa with his study group because someone proposed it and everybody was too socially awkward to say “no.”
“They say it’s for group morale or something,” Cheltham said. “I’m sure the shampoo, assorted school supplies and Cheez-Its are going to be a huge help.”
Every year, Walgreens expects a spike in its sales around the first week of December and plans accordingly, raising prices on all the most popular items.
“All the candy prices immediately go up 50 percent,” store manager Walt Caldwell said. “Nothing says ‘I don’t really care about you’ like some hastily purchased chocolate candies and the cheapest card in the store.”
Recently, area grocery store Sendik’s has tried to move into the forgotten Secret Santa market, but all of their items far exceed the agreed-upon $10 minimum.
