Still shopping? Time to play ‘Procrastinator’

A husband shopping for his wife, a dad taking his two kids to Santa and a mom picking out – or in this case, picking up – a pre-lit fir tree, just hours before Christmas Eve.

Sounds like a swell idea for a new TV show.

Call it “The Procrastinator.”

The rules would be simple. Contestants would be given the task of doing their Christmas shopping on Dec. 24 from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. The last contestant to finish would win. (The prize would be announced at a later date, or never.)

The potential Johnny-Come-Lately candidates were plentiful Friday, as shoppers from NorthTown to Silver Lake Mall in Coeur d’Alene were loading up on stuff they could have been loading up on since last year’s post-Christmas clearance sales.

Let’s meet the cast members and find out why they are “The Procrastinator” worthy. (Cue the theme music: “Tomorrow.”)

Pete Reed, Hayden

This 48-year-old male was seen at the perfume counter at Silver Lake Mall’s Bon-Macy’s with a women’s leather jacket and white sweater draped over his arm. The clothes were gifts for his wife. He also had every intention of buying her perfume, but forgot her favorite fragrance.

Reed is a pragmatic procrastinator.

“You’re only a procrastinator if you don’t plan to do it on the last day every year,” said Reed, an employee of Inland Forrester. “This is how I do it every year.”

However, Reed was thrown off rhythm this year because his son came home early (gasp) for Christmas and left Friday.

“I had to shop before today for him,” Reed said. “But I always enjoy shopping last-minute when you get people looking at you saying ‘What are you doing?’ “

Don Ames, Spokane Valley

Ames, 41, waited until Friday afternoon to take his two daughters to visit Santa at the Spokane Valley Mall. Becca, 7, a first-grader at Ness Elementary School, and Katie, 5, began to worry.

“They didn’t like the waiting. They thought it might be too big of a risk not to see Santa,” he said.

Ames, who works in a real estate office, said the reason it took so long to gather up the girls and make the visit was because there were so many holiday activities his family had to choose from.

“There’s the carriage ride, but that won’t get done,” he said. “We did it last year and there’s always next year.”

Good answer.

Denise Abrahamson, Ford, Wash.

Abrahamson, full-time student and mother of four, calls herself a procrastinator by delegation. Yet, anyone who’s out power-shopping through NorthTown Mall the day before Christmas qualifies.

Abrahamson, 30, said she was shopping for a sibling who didn’t get everything done. Two days ago, she did the same for her dad. Abrahamson, mother of a 9, 7, 6 and 5-month-old, also squeezed in some shopping of her own for her kids.

“There’s always one or two things you have to get the kids that they really, really want,” said Abrahamson, who attends Spokane Tribal College.

Chad Gardner, Coeur d’Alene

Gardner, 30, was deducted procrastination points when he got a jump on this year’s shopping by starting on Dec. 21.

However, he bounced back with authority Friday afternoon when he made one of his final purchases at Things Remembered in the Spokane Valley Mall. The gift was a flask for his brother-in-law and hunting and fishing buddy.

“I have a tendency to wait until the last moment,” said Gardner, owner of Anu-look Cleaning and Restoration in Coeur d’Alene. “I’m not much of a shopper. The parking, the traffic, the crowds … I figured everyone would be done.”

Hey Chad, did you think you’re the only member of this club?

Jeannette Girouard, Spokane

Girouard is a procrastinator with an excuse. Her husband.

After putting up a real Christmas tree in their South Hill home early in the season, the 30-year-old mom found herself maneuvering her cart through the aisles at the Valley Wal-Mart, the mecca of last-minute shoppers, Friday afternoon. Her chore was to buy a fake tree to replace the real one that dried up and died because her husband didn’t water it.

“We should have waited to get the real one,” said Girouard, who earned bonus points for using the word “waited.”

Erin Thacker, Spokane Valley

A self-described procrastinator, the 21-year-old student and waitress left everything until the last day.

“When I need to do something, I find something else to do instead of doing what I need to do,” said Thacker, while buying a box of candy at the Spokane Valley Mall.

However, Thacker, who spent the day shopping with her mother, Consuelo Gilbert, said there’s a certain thrill about waiting until the last day.

“It’s just more fun on the 24th because you just rush because you have to get it done,” she said.

As for who will be named No. 1 on “The Procrastinator?”

Pete, Don, Denise, Chad, Jeannette and Erin will have to wait. It’s not like they don’t know how.