Say Merry Christmas...to the Bottom of My Shoe

Ah...Christmas is in the air...the words of the prophet Isaiah whirling in our minds...thoughts of our Savior laying peacefully in his mother’s arms... the smell of a freshly cut spruce...children creating their wish lists...people stressing about the upcoming balance on their credit cards...the heated breath of the person next to you as you’re bunched together in a swarm at 4 am in the morning awaiting the opening of a retailer’s door while the Thanksgiving turkey you recently consumed is still digesting in your body....pheeeew!

Yeehaw, buckaroos! The doors open like a rodeo gate as a throng of “Holiday Shoppers” enthusiastically burst their way towards that one, two, or fifteen absolutely needed items that will make their Christmas giving faultless. Shopping carts whiz by like cars at an Indy 500 race start. A person falls to the ground and still they trudge on and over as the person beneath their feet takes their last pre-Christmas breath.

Absolutely amazing. That a mob in a “civilized” country can overrun a store employee to the point of death in the name of Christmas gift giving. What's going on? Instead of giving, the crowd has taken a life. And that’s just one horrible report. Although no one else died that Friday that I know of in shopping related incidences, I can easily guess that things got nasty and heated at some retailers across the nation. Two men shot each other dead in a gunfight at a Toys R Us in California after the women accompanying them got into an argument. But we still don't know if the dispute was related to their shopping.

Now for those of you that I personally know that went out on infamous “Black Friday”, don’t be offended. I did it myself a few years back for one item for my wife and I. I never got the item. Some people were coming from the back of the store with two of them in their cart. They were out when I finally made it back there. And don’t call me a hypocrite either. I’m not talking about people calmly and politely utilizing the opportunity to save some money or secure some special gifts for their young ones or some other significant people in their life. And besides, I said I would never do it again (never say never) and still think it’s a form of self-torture if you do. But I’m sure that for every nasty-spirited crowd, there’s scores of more peaceful ones, as many have told me.

But what about those others? Shopping around with a scowl on their face. “Hey you, the line’s back here!” “I had my bumper pointed at that parking space first!” I think we should be celebrating (many of us do) the real meaning of Christ-mas all year long. How did we get so far away from the true meaning of Christ-mas? How do people forget that the very giving they’re doing for Christ-mas is a celebration of the Ultimate Gift to all of us? I know we live in a society that spends beyond its means like it’s Christmas all year long (don’t worry; maybe Congress will bail them out). You think some folks would think about that around this time of year, be thankful, and experience a mind change and thus a behavioral change. Perhaps contemplate a spiritual change. But I guess it makes sense that it would perpetuate more of the same. Kinda sad.

Oh, and now I’m told that the Monday after Thanksgiving is now known as “Cyber Monday”. What’s next? A bunch of web bandits hacking into the myriad of online transactions performed that day and by sheer volume of new cyber-vandal opportunity, illegally score thousands of items, access credit card accounts, and drain bank accounts? Ho, ho, how-in-the-world...???