SOME CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS ENJOY LAST-MINUTE BUYING

Amid hurried holiday shoppers rushing in and out of retail stores is another group of shoppers: mostly men who wait until the last minute to purchase gifts.

With just eight days until Christmas, their shopping opportunities are dwindling.

Stores in Westfield Shopping Town at West Park Mall Wednesday were filled with holiday bargains and people hoping to finish their shopping. While their wives shopped, scattered clusters of husbands sat on wooden benches and seats chatting and watching passersby.

Horace Walters of Sikeston brought along a book to read while he waited for his wife, June, to make her purchases.

Walters doesn't like to shop until later in the season. He likes to "get caught up in the excitement" of the holiday rush.

"I think people just go out and purchase indiscriminately," he said. "I know what I'm going to buy, and you should buy something you're really pleased with."

Buying the perfect holiday gift takes some thought and consideration, he said.

"People go out and want to look for what they want to buy." Doing so often means they make purchases they don't really like or can't really afford, Walters said.

Christmas should have more meaning than just buying any gift for another person, he said.

Willard Crader of Oran agreed.

Though he doesn't buy many of the Christmas gifts for his family, he said there are more choices today, and that makes buying hard.

"When I was a little boy you didn't get much for Christmas, but what you did get you were proud of," he said.

Flay Davis of Advance, who rested on a wooden bench waiting for his wife to finish their shopping, told of a gift he was happy to receive -- a new watch given to him last year by his family.

Davis said his wife usually chooses the gifts, because "she's better at selecting." She does most of the shopping for their children and grandchildren -- and even for herself.

"I was supervising when she was buying," Davis said. Letting his wife choose her gifts means that she never has to return them after the holidays, he said.

Christmas doesn't have the element of surprise it once had. This year Davis bought his wife a new hat, but she's already seen it since she picked it out.

"As a kid, Christmas was a delight," Davis said. "It was always a jolly time."

Christmases are for family, Davis said, and his will gather in Advance for the holiday. Relatives will come from as nearby as Cape Girardeau and as far away as Cairo, Egypt.

Davis said his daughter and son-in-law were flying home from Egypt Wednesday afternoon for a holiday visit. Their two children attend college at Southeast Missouri State University.