The Christmas Spirit...

Apparently that would be greed.  I had a different topic in mind when I sat down to blog tonight but then I saw a commercial and it triggered something that's been nagging me since before Thanksgiving.  I realize that I'm not making any Earth-shattering observation when I say that the meaning of Christmas has been bastardized into buying as much stuff for as little money as possible.  But it seems like the consumerism is worse this year than last year, or maybe I'm just getting more sensitive to it.

My ire was first provoked before Thanksgiving when businesses started advertising hours for Black Friday.  I found it excessive that Kohl's opened at 3:00 AM.  Question: Who needs to be shopping at 3:00 AM?  Answer: No one.  And underpaid, harassed clerks don't need to be arriving at work at midnight to get the store ready for hordes of shoppers eager to save $20 on a sweater.

Then my anger was further provoked by Toys R Us, which opened at 10:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day.  It's bad enough that people would wait for hours in the dark and cold, but once again my thoughts are with the sales associates who have to give up time with their families to get the store ready for people who are buying crap for their kids that will be forgotten by New Year's Day.  That definitely seems more important than enjoying time with loved ones.

Finally, I hit my absolute boiling point when I learned that Gap and Old Navy would be open all day on Thanksgiving so people could get a jump start on Christmas shopping.  Really?  What the hell does anyone need at Gap or Old Navy on Thanksgiving Day?  Again, it's really great for you that you can spend an hour buying cut-rate jeans but what about the people working there?  They have to give up their day to ring up your seamless t-shirts and impulse buy socks.

Now before you protest and say, "Well that's what you get when you work retail!  What do you expect!" let me say this.  If you work retail, especially during the holidays, you accept that certain things will happen.  You will work crappy hours.  You will deal with people who are unreasonable in every way.  You will refold that same stack of sweaters 47 times during your six hour shift.  Those things are given.  But you also expect that you will not have to work on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day.  Forcing employees to work on Thanksgiving Day is a new low in corporate and consumer greed.  That the dollar is more important than people spending ONE DAY with their families is so depressing I can hardly contemplate it.  I guess for some of you this insight isn't new, but for me this is an unfamiliar level of cynicism.

My disgust runs deeper than stores simply being open Thanksgiving Day.  To me this represents a further loss of the values of the season.  You don't have to be a Christian, or celebrate Christmas, to appreciate that the foremost reason for the season ARE Christian values and the Christian belief in the birth of Jesus.  Most people in America, regardless of belief, can appreciate for most of country's population this is a significant event.  I know it's hard to believe but buying as much stuff for as cheap as possible is actually NOT the original point of Christmas.  If you aren't a Christian and you don't celebrate Christmas maybe you enjoy spending time with family and friends and the feeling of good cheer that usually accompanies the month of December.  My point is that no matter what you believe, most people WANT to spend time with their families and friends, and consumer greed overshadows that.

Please don't misunderstand me.  I love Christmas.  I love to buy and I love to receive (hey, I'll admit it).  It's fun to go out pick gifts for people.  But clamoring for the least expensive item, the best sale, the longest store hours, is depressing and it saps all my cheer and goodwill toward fellow man.  In fact, it makes me hate my fellow man, their nasty attitudes and their inability to safely navigate a mall parking lot, and that's even worse then the greed.

I hope you all take a minute and remember what's important this month.  Spending time with family and friends, the birth of Jesus (if you are so inclined to believe), eating good food, and eggnog.  I hope that you will pause just a little before greed gets the better of you.  And most of all I wish you a happy, healthy holiday.