DONE WITH DIAMOND HUNTING: Guri Rokkones (46) and sons Magnus (12) and Oscar (14) exchange the gift they gave their grandmother (73). Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
Thanks, but no thanks! The third day of Christmas is the big day to get rid of the Christmas present you don’t want.
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- The third day of Christmas is a popular day for exchanging unwanted Christmas presents.
- VG took the trip to Ark in Karl Johan, where the employees say that several hundred use the day to exchange gifts.
- Some people try to trade books after reading them, but bookstores often check for signs of use.
- VG reporters met people who exchanged Christmas presents and described the process as simple and quick.
Sea view
The rumors have started to swirl. It’s chaos! Swapping chaos! VG’s two seconded reporters take a camera, notepad and pen with them.
Christmas is over, the shops are open again and hope is lit. Finally, society’s wheels are slowly turning and the news drought is over.
– Always someone who tries
Things are going smoothly in the Ark bookstore in Karl Johan – Norway’s busiest shopping street in the middle of Oslo city centre. The customers don’t pile up, they don’t push their way to the counter and they don’t pile on each other’s heads with books they have to get rid of.
The cashiers are simply very good at their jobs and ensure minimal queuing.
– Things are going in jerks and…
Hell. There the pen took the evening.
– Wait! The pen died. I have to take admission.
– It’s going in jerks. Suddenly there is a rush. It’s pretty fierce. 90 per cent of those who are here will exchange something they got for Christmas, explains Kirsti Nordvik Krohn.
ROUTINE: You don’t fool a trickster like Ark’s Kristin Nordvik Krohn. Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
She has more than 10 years behind her as an employee of Ark, the last three from the store on Egertorget. In other words, an experienced exchange day dispatcher.
If you’re a true miser with plans to speed read the book you got for Christmas, then trade it in, you should find another bookstore.
– I have become stricter and check that the books to be exchanged have not been read. There is always someone who tries, says Krohn.
Are you going to exchange the gift you got from grandma? Here are the tips.
STAPPA: It’s overflowing with bills of exchange in the till. Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
In the week before Christmas, customers flocked to the 19-year-old writer-comet Oliver Lovrenski’s “When we were younger” and Lars Mytting’s “Skråpånatta”.
So far, people actually seem pretty happy with these gifts, although the bookstore is keeping the option open:
– Not many of them have been replaced, but it could come tomorrow, says Krogh.
Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
Something rumbles in the corner of the shop. Is this the sound of mayhem everyone is talking about?
– Oh true, something fell down there that has been replaced and will be back on the shelves, says Krohn.
A steady stream of customers comes in. Some of them will exchange Christmas presents, others are tourists visiting the capital. Several hundred are visiting the shop this Christmas Wednesday, says Krohn.
Are you going to exchange any of the Christmas presents you received?
– A bit too “basic”
Ina Halvorsen (26) is one of those who was not completely satisfied with one of this year’s Christmas gifts, namely the cookbook “Til ungdommen” written by, among others, ring fox Eyvind Hellstrøm.
– There were many dishes in it that I already knew. It was a bit too “basic”, says Halvorsen about the gift from his uncle.
LEVELING UP: Ina Halvorsen found a new cookbook. Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
He’s obviously been up to something, because after a short tour of the shop, Halvorsen returns with a new and slightly more “advanced” cookbook.
The exchange goes like a breeze. Targeted, fast and successful – despite the alleged chaos that prevails today.
– You have to get it done. If not, you forget it, says Henriksen.
Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
The Rokkones family from Kristiansand stands by the game shelf. They are going to change the game they gave grandma for Christmas.
– She was very tired of “the missing diamond”, says daughter Guri Rokkones (46).
Grandma with a clear message
The 73-year-old woman had given a clear message when she opened the present on Christmas Day, says the daughter. The idea was to have the game at the cabin, where they will travel on Wednesday.
For those who haven’t been forced to play “The Lost Diamond”: You are some kind of gem hunter in Africa surrounded by robbers, Bedouins and pirates. The first to find the “Star of Africa” diamond wins! If you find the diamond on the first try, the game is simply over.
THE DIAMOND: Loved and hated. Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
Her two sons, Magnus (12) and Oscar (14), agree with their grandmother. “The Lost Diamond” is boring – the game “Ryktet gaar”, which they switched to, is better.
– What do you think about the change request?
– Very good, says Magnus.
– Whose idea was it to give the missing diamond in the first place?
– It was dad, says Oscar.
– He’s not here today?
– No, he replies.
Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
Replacement chef in Karl Johan
VG’s two seconded reporters decide to go out in Karl Johan to take the pace of the exchange chaos. Maybe there are wilder conditions out there.
First of all, it’s cold – really cold. Minus seven degrees. Feels like minus 10, says the Yr app. It is perhaps not so surprising that almost no one wants to talk to us.
– Hello! We come from VG.
– No thanks.
– Hey, we’re from…
– It’s fine!
– Hello, we are writing a case about exchange day…
– In the.
KOK: There are lots of people in Karl Johan on the first day of open shops after Christmas. Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
After stopping about 70 people who all have better things to do than being interviewed by VG, we get hold of two guys who are out on a swapping trip.
– We don’t trudge so much, we are more purposeful, says Andreas Undseth Sørland (17).
He is going to change an item of clothing, and for the sake of the donors, he hesitates to give details of the gift.
– Unfortunately, it was a bit too small. It didn’t quite fit, says Sørland.
– What about you, will there be any exchange?
– There was a lot going on in socks and knickers. I take what I get, says Berntsen.
OUT FOR EXCHANGE: Andreas Undseth Sørland (17) and Karl Erik Berntsen (17). Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
– Is it a bit petty to open presents you are not so happy about on Christmas Eve?
– I think it’s the thought that counts, says Sørland.
– It was a very politically correct answer. Who did you get the gift from?
– It was … my cousins.
Published:
Published: 27.12.23 at 21:57
Updated: 27.12.23 at 22:40
2023-12-27 20:57:09
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