Black Friday and Bills and (Snow)Balls, Oh My!

Although nary a flake has fallen—with Hanukkah this week, and Christmas and Kwanzaa around the corner—the wintertime gift-giving-and-getting has begun.

Vox Pop presents the five W's and an H: WHO for, my dear? WHAT are you spending? WHEN did you start shopping? WHERE will you browse? WHY haven't you started yet?And HOW will you ever pay for all that?

ALBERT CHEN photographer [Queens]
KIT YOUNG student [Queens]

AC: I figure I'll spend, in total, a couple hundred dollars. Roughly the same as last year. Mainly on myself . . . and her! And friends! Oh damn, I forgot about that. Maybe we'll have to spend a few hundred more then . . .

KY: This year I'll spend more time shopping. Shopping for lots of people!

AC: We're starting today.

JOE DENTON restaurant owner, 'inoteca [Manhattan]

Actually, I was just thinking of going to Union Square to the outdoor market. It's really a lot of fun right in the heart of it; the past couple of years, that's where I usually do a lot of my shopping. Since it's the beginning of the month, shoot, I really haven't put much thought into it yet. I'm usually a late shopper, and my family's coming from Seattle in late December, so I have after Christmas to do a little shopping too.

RACHEL & JAMES CLARKSON finance [Huddersfield, England]

JC: We've flown over for the weekend just to shop. Because the dollar is weak, it's very good for people overseas. It's great to just come and buy, to be honest.

RC: From my office alone, I know four people coming here to shop during December.

JC: And people we were talking to on the flight over, too. What a nice exchange rate!

NICK FOLEYclothes folder, Foley & Corinna [Manhattan]

I haven't started shopping yet, and usually I do my shopping in stores, but everyone else has been shopping online, so that's probably what I'm going to do now. I have to buy for my whole family, and I just started to pay for these things myself. My parents used to pay for me, so now that I have to pay, I don't know. I don't even know what I'm looking for, so that's one reason I want to go online, because online I can look through stuff and find almost anything.

SIMONE CARTER clothing store clerk [Brooklyn]

I'll be shopping next after I get paid! Then I'll buy stuff for my family, my parents, and my friends. I think I'll probably spend more this year than last year because I have money now.