the most wonderful time of the year?

I hate Christmas shopping.

Don't get me wrong. I like giving gifts as much as the next guy. I like being able to pick something out for someone that they wouldn't normally buy for themselves. I'm real excited to give my mom her silverware this year. She's wanted some for a long time, and she really deserves it.

I also like getting things. It's always fun to see what reminds people of you and what they think you would like. And it just shows that they're thinking about you. This year, Amanda bought me a map from an 1899 atlas. I love it, not because it was expensive or because it was exactly what I put on my list, but because she knows how much I love maps and what it would mean to me. But I don't really need more 'stuff'. I have plenty of it lying around, not being used. I have much more than I need to get by.

But this ritual that Americans have, it's useless. We are one of the riches countries in the world, and yet, at a set time of the year, determinded by giant corporations and citizens who just love to spend money, we all get in our fancy cars that we lease but can't afford, and go to stores and spend hours upon hours and far too much money to find the 'perfect gift'. But the 'perfect gift' is only bought in hopes of winning the love and affection from the receiver. Because, really, if we actually sat and thought about it, we don't need $500 worth of more junk that will be out of date by July.

In America, $450 billion are spent on Christmas gifts every year. $450 billion!!! But (this is sobering) it would take only $10 billion to provide the entire world with clean water. We could easily provide the world with something they need to live, to actually survive, and yet we are concerned about which Tickle Me Elmo little Suzy wants more? It's insane the amount of selfishness we can possess in our cushy, expensive homes with t.v.s that cost more than my car. "Is it because we're having so much fun at home we've forgotten the world? Is it because we're so rich and the rest of the world's so poor and we just don't care if they are? I've heard rumors; the world is starving, but we're well fed.  Is it true, the world works hard and we play? Is that why we're hated so much?" (Fahrenheit 451)

A few years ago, my immediate family began caroling. Now, for those who don't know, we are a family of Daweses. We literally could not carry a tune if a gun was pointed to our head. But we wanted to do something for our extended family. So we traveled to their houses and sang off-key Christmas songs to them, and they enjoyed it. But a few years later, we wanted to do something different. So we went, like a church group but as a family instead, to the nursing home down the street. I have never seen happier people. These men and women living there, some of them don't see their family anymore. They don't care, or don't have the time or resources to visit. Others don't have any family left alive. It's sad. They say this is the 'most wonderful time of the year' and yet for many, it just reminds them of what they don't have. But once a year, we get to visit them, remind them of old times (many request songs more than once because of memories tied to them), bring a smile to their face, and let them know that not everyone has forgotten about them. It's beautiful, really.

But this 'most wonderful time of the year', really, it's all crap. We go out in public in swarms, cut people off and give them the finger, yell at the cashier because the toy we bought for 5 month old Johnny was 50 cents more than the ad claimed, and wear a frown on our face the entire time, like we are the ones starving at night. We don't say 'please' or 'thank you' or 'excuse me'. After all, doesn't the world owe me something? I need to get mine.

When will we open our eyes? When will I open my eyes? I hate this ritual. We're like freaking robots, owned by consumerism while the little boy followed by the vulture dies on his way to get rice. I don't know about you, but this scares the crap out of me.