With the official holiday season now in full swing, it should be noted that this is a hectic time for everyone. It behooves us all &045; the buying public and store clerks to exercise a little patience during a time when it’s easy to lose your cool.

Parents are harried, trying to find the right gifts for children, teens (it’s no picnic shopping for them), and other loved ones. Everyone is trying to make just the right gift selection &045; or worse, trying to find the elusive gift request with little success. In an effort to give just the right gift, we allow ourselves to get way too anxious about our choices.

And it’s not easy for store clerks trying to satisfy the desires of people stressing out about their gift choices. Everyone is in such a hurry, this is after all a busy time of the year, and it’s easy to forget store clerks are people, too. They will react to curtness as most of us would &045; in an equally curt manner.

Pretty soon, all the holiday cheer which is supposed to run rampant at this time of the year, is crushed.

Let’s all take a couple deep breaths before walking into a store or reacting to a harried shopper, and savor the fun of season.We will all maintain our sanity through December if we do.