Holiday shopping can put people in a festive mood, but it can also make them act somewhat crazy; fight strangers over something they want, for instance.

Redditor u/NeatCartographer209 told the online community about the time a woman tried to do her holiday shopping in a parking lot, aiming at his newly bought grill. She requested the man sell it to her and, when he refused, tried taking it herself. That ended in money flying around and far from beautiful holiday wishes imparted. Scroll down to find the full story in the OP’s own words.

Bored Panda has reached out to the redditor, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find his thoughts in the text below.

Some people think money can get them anything, and are shocked when it doesn’t

Image credits: traimakivan (not the actual photo)

This woman tried buying a man’s new grill and was exasperated when he refused to sell

Image credits: alexlucru123 (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Lazy_Bear (not the actual photo)

Image credits: NeatCartographer209

“My instinct wasn’t ‘take the money and run’,” the redditor said

The redditor told Bored Panda that the part that annoyed him the most was the fact that she tried using God as a way to put herself in a higher position during the confrontation. “It’s not just her that does it either,” he pointed out. “People will use that in an argument and automatically think it puts them on the ‘righteous’ side of any given scenario. People like that make me ashamed to say that I share a religion with them.”

Some people suggested that the OP should have kept the money to himself, but the OP said he was too wrapped up in the heat of the moment to care about her $200. “My instinct wasn’t ‘take the money and run’. I just couldn’t give the money a second thought in that scenario,” he said, detailing that it was two $100 bills that she threw his way.

He added that the lady’s actions really caught him by surprise. “I did not think there were people like this. Then again, after living in Florida, more and more stories appear on the news that are just baffling to me,” he shared.

There are numerous reasons people tend to splurge during the holiday season

It is unclear whether the woman was under the pressure of last-minute shopping or there was some other reason for her fixation on the man’s new grill. He did, however, tell her that he was lucky enough to get the last one, which might have added fuel to the fire. It is pretty common for certain popular items to be wiped off the shelves in a matter of days during the holiday season—especially when there are special offers involved—leaving quite a few disappointed shoppers empty-handed.

The discount season seems to be booming in the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas time. Forbes pointed out that nowadays, with the help of social media and targeted ads, retailers find ways to make people spend more over the holidays than they initially plan on or can afford to. It suggested that two of the main reasons for that are overexposure and ego depletion as well as the bandwagon effect.

Overexposure, also known as the ‘mere exposure effect’, is a phenomenon which refers to people feeling drawn to a thing or an idea they’ve seen before. When they are repeatedly exposed to the idea of buying a new computer, for instance, they might decide to buy one even if they didn’t really need it at that moment. Such overexposure often leads to a state of ego depletion, when a person is very suggestible and often goes for what is marketed as ‘the best’ instead of making conscious decisions about what they need and can afford.

According to Forbes, the second factor which leads to people overspending around the holidays is the bandwagon effect. It refers to people’s inclination towards something based on what other people think or do. Most people have an innate desire to conform to societal norms, which makes them follow the bandwagon effect instead of their sensible judgment; and that is a shopper’s weak spot marketers are well aware of.

Image credits: Valeria Boltneva (not the actual photo)

Some people dread shopping for gifts, but choose to do it nevertheless

Statista revealed that in 2022, the holiday retail sales in the US were forecast to reach nearly 943 billion dollars. And even though Pew Research Center pointed out that shopping and money-related matters are some of the things people dislike most about Christmas, the vast majority of them (86%, to be exact) plan on buying gifts nevertheless. So why is that? Why do we buy gifts despite all the stress it entails?

In an article for Psychology Today, an anthropologist and cognitive scientist, Dimitris Xygalatas, Ph.D., emphasized that giving gifts allows people to create meaningful connections, whether it’s business relations, relationships in the family, or elsewhere. He also pointed out that spending money on others activates the reward circuit in our brain, which makes us feel good.

The woman in the OP’s story was willing to spend money on a person she loves, as she seemingly wanted to get the grill for her husband. However, instead of spending it at the store, she chose to throw it at a stranger in a parking lot, which didn’t end in a successful holiday shopping experience.

Image credits: Leeloo Thefirst (not the actual photo)

Fellow redditors shared their thoughts in the comments, the OP replied to some of them

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