They say it takes a true tragedy to really appreciate things. Or, if you're me, appreciate things less. Call me a Grinch, Scrooge, whatever. I, personally, think "The Holidays" are a load of happy horseshit. It does not "stimulate the economy", it does not really "bring families together", it doesn't make everyone in the world a freakin miracle worker. Let me explain why: WE SHOULD DO THIS ALL THE GODDAMN TIME!!!! NOT JUST WHEN ITS SOCIALLY CONVENIENT. I, for one, am thankful for every day. I count my blessings all the time. I guess that's the way life is when you have terminal illnesses and practically live in the hospital. But should it be?
Lets start with my first point, "stimulating the economy". Ok, yeah, a lot of people go out and spend way more money than they usually do. BUT, (and there's always a "but" isn't there?) people are mostly buying where they can afford to. For example, Working Mom A saves up all year to buy Timmy some really cool shit for Christmas or Hanuka or Festivus or whatever they celebrate. She has X number of dollars, she isn't going to go to the locally owned toy store to buy the new 3D Nintendo DS. She's going to go to Walmart or Best Buy or wherever has it $100 cheaper. That corporately owned store can afford to lower the price on this because they probably got a discount from the manufacturer. They're also losing X amount of profit on this item so they can be the cheapest and stimulate their sales. But that's the only number that's going up, the amount of sales transactions. Trust me, I worked corporate retail long enough. Yes, their sales numbers go up and so does their profit margin for the day, but they aren't actually making more profit, it just looks that way on paper. Follow? There is still a little added profit, but not as much as they would have you believe. And locally owned toyshop gets stiffed and falls worse because they can't afford to keep up with "Corporate America". If anything, all of these "Super Doorbuster Discounts!!!" do is screw up the economy for the rest of the year. Locally owned toy store makes a little added profit, but not much, because Corporate Yahoo store has the prices people can afford, because they can afford it. "Small Business Saturday" will help to some degree, but since everyone emptied their pocketbooks on "Black Friday" there won't be much left over for the poor struggling businessman. Then Corporate Yahoo's sales are off for the rest of the year because one huge day/week/month of awesome sales makes the rest of the year look pathetic and they'll keep pushing their little worker bees until they break.
Ok, was that a long enough ramble? Here's my next point: Families should not need an excuse to get together!!! Don't give me your bullshit excuses, I don't care. I am soooo thankful and blessed to have such an amazing family that cares for me. They're always a phone call away, less if I'm in the hospital again. And the ones that aren't, I love them anyway. And I'm thankful to have them because they support and love me from wherever they are. I understand that not everyone has a family like mine, nor is my family anywhere near perfect. They drive me nuts with their worrying and babying and being overbearing. But "The Holidays" shouldn't be some big crummy excuse to actually pay attention to your family. Pay attention to them all the time. Thank them for who they are, and if it applies, thank them for helping mold who you are. If your family sucks and this the only time you are required to spend time with them, make the best of it. Or just don't go. Make your own family out of friends and people that make you happy. Family isn't just blood. Don't use "The Holidays" as an excuse to finally call your mother. Call her during the summer, make her day. She loves you.
Point 3: YOU ARE NOT A GODDAMN MIRACLE WORKER!! "Paying it forward" and tossing spare change into Santa's bucket to try to make him stop ringing that fucking bell doesn't make you a better person. Because you probably only do this crap once a year. That makes you a shittier person. Example: "Pete" makes a point to buy coffee for the person behind him, to donate to Hells Bells Santa, to donate to Toys for Tots, because "Tis the Season!". "Mike" buys your coffee when he has the extra money, he saves his change in a jar and every time its full he gives it to the Humane Society, Project Wildlife, Make a Wish, Insert-Charity-Name-Here, when he has spare time he helps out at whichever organization, he made sure to get small gifts for the kids down the hall who's parents don't make much(ok, maybe no one is quite as perfect as Mike, but we should try dammit!!). Mike tries to help out whenever he can, Pete helps out during "The Holidays", but as soon as they're over he's back to being that pretentious prick down in accounting. Point being, don't use "The Holidays" as an excuse to be nice. Be nice all the time. You'll be happier, I promise.
And this is why I hate "The Holidays". Because no one should need an excuse to be nice, to help out local businesses, to help people in need, to be with their families. These are things we should do and appreciate *every day*!!!! Plus, Black Friday totally screws up everyone else's schedule for weeks. Those of us non-nutsos who actually *need* to go to the store for something important get attacked by all of the crazies and run home having panic attacks and can't even open the bottle of xanax cuz their hands are shaking so badly, yeah, us. Leave us alone crazies!!!(Spellcheck just tried to correct "nutsos" with "fatsos". HAH!!)
No comments:
Post a Comment