When I see the ads about stores being open until midnight and beyond during the Christmas shopping season, I want to cry. Where were these people when I needed them? It was Christmas 1984. I owned my own public relations firm and, thankfully, it was very successful. As much work as I could handle. On Christmas Eve, I was finishing up an assignment for a large client which involved a lot of detailed concentration. I suddenly realized it was getting late and, as usual, I had done no Christmas shopping. Time to wrap things up.