Many Creatures Stirring at Mall

‘Twas the day before Christmas, and all through the mall, the shoppers were scurrying--and having a ball. With just hours to go, you’d expect such a panic, but the last-minute gift-getters swear they’re not manic.

Surely there were signs of trouble to dare: unclaimed fir trees in dumpsters, and store shelves stripped bare. The sales were all gone, the traffic a snarl, difficult to find bargains or a new Barbie doll.

Ventura County folks who shopped at the last knew what they were doing; it’s part of their past. Many wait to pack the night before vacation, cram for exams, and tardily file DMV registration.

But there’s a method to their madness, a thrill for which they thirst, knowing their holiday will be fine--if the stores don’t close first.

Anthony Taylor began shopping December Twenty-Third, just one face in a credit-card-carrying herd.

“It’s less stressful for me if I do it this way,” said Taylor, 44, a perennial day-before-Christmas shopper, as he made the rounds at Camarillo’s Premium Outlets. ‘I have a good idea of what people want because they’ve already done all their shopping. I take a couple days off work and I use the first day to scan the stores and then do all my shopping the next day.”

Lisa Tran of Oxnard was out shopping for her father; finding the right gift for him really was a bother.

“He has practically everything,” Tran said, exasperated after hitting 15 stores Friday with no end in sight. “Finding the right thing for him is difficult, so I’ve just been looking and looking for something special. It’s the season of love, and I want to show him how much I love him.”

With a half day left of shopping, Santa couldn’t get a break; the queue of waiting children continued to snake. He smiled and he posed and he squinted a wink, but with a nighttime sleigh ride impending, surely he wanted to escape in a blink.

Near the front of the line waited Michelle Porter of Ventura, with her daughter, Haley, and niece, Zoe. The two small cousins were reunited for the holiday when Porter’s sister, Tracey Huckins, arrived from Paraguay. The earliest they could go shopping and visit Santa together was Friday.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Porter said.

For some they just can’t shop until they get into the mood, fired up and ready to buy presents for their brood. Amy McKay of Ventura deferred gift gratification until she felt imbued with Christmas-spirit inspiration.

“Last-minute shopper? That’s definitely me,” McKay said, lugging a play parking garage for her nephew out of Toys R Us. ‘I feel good. Now I’m in the spirit.’ ”

But for others the glamour seemed to have faded; weary and out of time, by the clock they were checkmated. When procrastination becomes plan, the pressure is on, so that finding the merry in Christmas can leave them rather wan.

Slumped in a couch at Pacific View Mall, Nineth Argueta, 27, was pausing from it all. She started at 8, buying gifts for 10, and planned to be up all night once her midnight party began.

“I work a lot of hours in a restaurant and I just didn’t have time to shop. I’m going to be tired tonight,” Argueta said.