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Good morning, Netizens…
In the dead calm of pre-dawn darkness I sit contemplating the advent of the holiday shopping season which, this year, appears to be arriving much sooner than the day after Thanksgiving. That bastion of consumer enlightenment, Santa Claus, normally arrives the Day after Thanksgiving, what is termed “Black Friday”, complete with his visits to the malls, lots of tiny reindeer both real and not-so-real, and of course, the pronouncements of Christmas sales. This insanity continues unabated from Black Friday until finally, exhausted and broke, the intrepid Christmas shoppers finally reel home and fall down. Somewhere in there we pause unctuously to observe Thanksgiving Day and sometimes Christmas.
Not only do I have a serious problem with huge, sweaty crowds jamming against one another looking for that perfect Christmas bargain, but I also deeply loathe the commercialization of two such very important holidays. I’ve muttered deeply to myself about this manifestation of so-called holiday spirit in the past, even predicted a time or two that eventually we would hear Christmas Carols rumbling forth from the airwaves by (gasp!) the Fourth of July which is already happening, yet another holiday that has been marginalized by commercial advertising.
For a nation so deeply-steeped in patriotism, which is what we purport to be, it strikes me as nauseating that we get all warm and fuzzy about our Veterans of War whenever it is convenient, a diuretic to our broken moral values or simply because it is a federal holiday. The rest of the year we forget the wounded and dead scattered over several foreign countries, which is about how I would term the nearest Veterans Administration Hospital where some of the less-fortunate veterans end up. For the most part, the VA is nothing more than an extension of wars and rumors of wars, bereft of the clinical doctors and nurses who perhaps lovingly tend the ill and wounded. Yeah, sure, as my friends might say.
Has it ever dawned on anyone that holidays aren’t what they used to be? We can rearrange them on the calendar whenever we want them, and we haven’t even begun to tap dance on the implications and realities of materialism yet.
Why bother?
Why don’t we just have half a dozen or so shopping holidays each year for the hell of it. Close all public business and declare federal shopping holidays; stop fooling ourselves with all this piety and garbage about doing our part for the national economy? We could spread the economic wealth around that way, don’t you know? The merchants would love it, and those of us who still observe and revere the holidays for what they really are could sit quietly in the corners of society, nodding our heads to no one in particular, and muttering about how it once was.
I remember standing in frigid wind watching veterans solemnly marching down the street, I remember the big harvests that always preceded Thanksgiving Day but most of all, I remember the Star in the East that used to rise above the mountains on Christmas Eve. A long, long time ago, I remember two giant work horses with sleigh bells on their harnesses plodding their way across the snow-covered fields.
But I don’t remember what I bought my wife last Christmas.
Dave
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Rifleman__Dodd on November 03 at 8:16 a.m.
Ditto.
I dread getting near a Costco in the two weeks before Christmas. One could get trampled.
So few really know what Christmas is all about. Spend it alone for the last 3 - 4 years… and you will realize its about giving of one self, not opening the wallet and shelling out money.
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lewis on November 03 at 8:17 a.m.
Be careful of what you write Dave. Who knows someone might be watching and we will have mandatory days we must shop at and have a certain amount we must spend. In order to get the economy going.
Just like the stimulus the poor people got last year that had a stipulation on it they had to spend it in a certain amount of time.
I can see it now each person having a card to show ID at check out. The Feds tallying up everything I spend making sure I am spending enough to be a good American.
Silly you say, no sillier then charging citizens a penalty for not having health insurance they cannot afford. That is like the bank charging a 25 dollar fee because you have no money in your account.
We lost the American dream for stuff, now we are cattle being used for what we can provide, for our government. Money.
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JeanieS on November 03 at 8:38 a.m.
O yes, the holidays. Starting with the so-called holiday of Halloween. That seems to mark the timeline of getting ready, like for a marathon, to don your running shoes, toe the mark, get set, ready, GO! Don't even wait for the day after Thanksgiving. Start now! And so, Thanksgiving will come along, we'll gorge ourselves on abudant food and way too many pumpkin pies. The competitive among us will rise at dawn on Black Friday and hopefully won't stampede to death any innocent workers who had to give up their Thanksgiving weekend to meet the demands of greedy, hungry, biting, predatory shoppers trying to get that unique toy or game that will eventually make it to a back shelf by Valentine's Day. Finally, Christmas day will arrive and everyone will again eat way more than they should, double the pies that were at Thanksgiving, wrappers tumbled and jumbled on the floor, amongst the heaps of “presents” that I am sure tell the Story of Christmas. Yeesh.
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Rifleman__Dodd on November 03 at 10:43 a.m.
Lowes had Christmas stuff on sale Labor Day. Sad.
Unwanted gifts to ungrateful recipients.
No one writes letters anymore..just blogs about how great their year was.
We have lost touch of so many things that made us great and life good. The speed and flexibility of the internet has caused the loss of personal communication.
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JeanieS on November 03 at 11:21 a.m.
You are right, RD. (and guiltily - I started my Christmas “form” letter just a few minutes ago. Last year I got trumped by Old Man Winter and snowed in for the remainder of the year, with my cards, letters, envelopes, stamps, labels, all at work)
The art of personal communication. Wow - it's not only an endangered species - but practically extinct.
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arliacne on November 03 at 11:29 a.m.
Things started getting out of hand when my wife would tally up how much was spent on each child so we could be sure the gifts were equal. If someone gave us a gift we had to reciprocate. I had a buddy I used to meet once a week for breakfast. Each year we exchanged gift cards for the same amount to mostly the same electronics stores. When I suggested we simply enjoy the season together instead he was miffed that I didn't appreciate the gesture.
Go figure.
However, paying homage to a super natural and supposedly benevolent being? Meh.
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Ron_the_Cop on November 03 at 11:48 a.m.
I'm just bummed out we had Christmas stuff out at Lowes/Home Depot before Halloween. And my goodness the Christmas tree oops Holiday tree was up at the Northtown Mall before Halloween too! Did I miss Thanksgiving?
Bah Humbug!
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martin hibbs on November 03 at 5:17 p.m.
I did most of my Christmas shopping in June. Thanksgiving will be at my sister's home with the rest of the clan. Two of the granddaughters have birthdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I will have to do a bit of shopping for them. Other that that, I am pretty much ready for the holiday season. Cheers to all…
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martin hibbs on November 03 at 5:27 p.m.
I meant to add that my holidays are more for family than for the insane rush to consume. The Thanksgiving and Christmas tables are the most important times of the year for me. (Good food also helps!) I'm expecting to stay home for Christmas this year and have already started thinking about my menu for this year. Apart from oxtail soup and mashed potatoes I haven't made a lot of progress. Goose maybe. Dunno… Thinking must be done. Now I've gone and made myself hungry! Got to run to the store and pick up some stuff for dinner. Sigh… It never ends.
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arliacne on November 04 at 7:28 a.m.
Marty is right. Family time is the most important. Last year in our new house in the sticks everyone came together … and got snowed in. We enjoyed several days of warm fires, board games and sledding (oh, yeah … and eating) before they were able to get out through the drifts.
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jhnwndl on November 04 at 6:43 p.m.
Advent Meditations by John E. Windell includes short story illustrations based on the Revised Common Lectionary scriptures for each day in Advent.
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