I find it odd that people will push and shove become rude and obnoxious all in the name of Christmas. For the past 50 years, Black Friday encourages American consumers to spend money that they do not have and sink deeper into debt all in the hope of generating an alchemic change in the economy by turning red into black. However, in all this questing for peace on earth and good will to man, the number of car accidents increases by almost 60 percent every Black Friday. Hey, as long as it is at least 50 percent off it is all worth it, yes? And of course, this has got me thinking….

 What won’t people do for a bargain? I mean come on ‘tis the season to show your love with your pocketbook right?  No longer are the holidays about good will and peace on earth, it is about game boys, Xboxes, flat screen TVs, sales on shirts and skirts, pots and pans, gizmos and gadgets, and everything else we absolutely can’t live without.

 Call me a scrooge, I just don’t do it. Why should I gift someone just once a year? Why can’t I gift people all year? This is why I do not celebrate Christmas with gifts. I personally like to donate to a few charities, go to Heifer International, buy a couple of clutches of chickens and send them to a 3rd world country so some family who doesn’t have food or opportunity can eat rather than play with Xboxs and walk around with new handbags and spiffy shoes that will break in a few weeks.

 Imagine living in the 50s and what giving would have been like then. Of course, we would not have all the new gadgets or video games, so that would save money. Ipods, Itouches, video cameras and handheld whatevers didn’t exist either. Oh my God, then how did people show their love and appreciation if they could not get to a Walmart or Best Buy to buy all these handy dandy things? Shucks, those stores did not exist either.

 People had to do with what they had. Designers’ shoes at $250.00 didn’t exist, but I tell you a person could get a great pair of Oxford men’s shoes for $12.95. For those really cold nights an automatic electric blanket did the trick for $9.94 rather than a $300.00 dollar comforter. In lieu of M3P players and Itune gift certificates, we had to settle for 45s records at 54 cents each. An alarm clock would set us back at $1.99, and in the kitchen, there were no cooking-station frying pans; no Paula Dean cooking sets, just a Teflon frying pan for $1.00.

 Toys were hard to come by too. Gosh I mean big spenders would need to drop $4.95 for a scooter and for those who liked to play school and get chalk and blackboard set; it would set you back all of 99 cents. An Etcha Sketch was $1.87 and a good old-fashioned jigsaw puzzle put you in the hole for all of 37 cents. Spending beyond your means was getting your wife a portable Singer sewing machine $19.90 or a power drill for under $10.00.

 Maybe this year we can forget Black Friday and Cyber Monday and avoid Blue Tuesday and give from our heart. Peace on earth cannot be purchased, not even at 80% off. Sorry folks peace on earth is priceless. It doesn’t fit in a stocking, or under the tree. Peace on earth, much like love, can only be given. So welcome to the holiday season and be sure to spread peace on earth…its free, and while you’re at it good will towards man comes with the package!

This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.