Say it isn’t so Charlie Brown! I hear the faint jingle of a bell. I shake my head in disbelief, its 2 weeks before Thanksgiving for crying out loud!
I move along with my life ignoring the signs at every turn. The blazing red and green colors, the increasing weight of the daily newspaper packed with sale ads. I say a quick prayer for the trees that are sacrificed in the name of the holiday circulars that are beginning to stuff my mailbox and making the poor mail carrier beg for a muscle relaxer, a stiff drink and a hot bath. The constant hints from this and that big box money sucking electronic store on television, not to mention the ridiculous yet funny Target commercials.
Its not all that surprising when I stop to think about it, the reason that, year after year, it seems to arrive earlier and earlier. Its not my imagination that its arriving that way, its the realization of an ever increasing commercialization of the season… or is it?
Stop for a moment and think about the times we live in.
Have you thought about it?
Are you breathing a little heavier now?
Can’t catch your breath?
Has your anxiety level just increased a little or a lot?
First, be sure you’re not experiencing some sort of medical episode or condition and then calm down a little. If you are experiencing an episode of some sort stop reading and dial 911. If not, read on at your own risk.
If you have young children, I’m sure your heart rate has increased 2 fold just at the mere suggestion of what I may be implying.
I suggest that, in a world that is getting more dangerous and closer to the brink of destruction, we look more and more to things that makes us feel good.
Yes it’s true and I’m not the only who has noticed.
No, I’m not some crack pot hiding in the woods stock piling arms, explosives, water, booze and tobacco for the day when all hell breaks loose. I do that for fun.
I’m a father of two young children whom not only drive me out of my mind on good days but, who are my ultimate responsibility and the reason I wake, breathe and subject myself to the abuses offered in the work place and our society every single second of the day.
My love for my girls knows no boundaries, yet I mentally berate myself for bringing them into an unsafe society that teeters on the edge of collapse. It’s a very sticky, hypocritical and complicated thing being a parent.
We are constantly bombarded with bad news, disturbing images on television and constantly reminded that a good percentage of people do not value life, not theirs or anyone’s life around them. The news should be brought to us in part by wineries, distilleries, distributors, retail stores, night clubs, corner bars, therapists, detox centers, the health care industry and the pharmaceutical companies producing anti-depressants and sedatives.
I submit that we readily embrace the season earlier because we need something good, something that tells us everything is going to be ok.
Maybe is the religious reason for the season that drives some, the comfort found in the “Good Word” or the image of Christ and the celebration of his birth and what he represents.
Maybe its the feeling of normalcy the season brings. Is it the ability to lie to ourselves and see the economy as thriving instead of the cruel reality that it’s eerily near catastrophe that drives us to embrace the holiday season earlier and earlier?
Do we embrace it to fabricate a reason to take out our frustrations on unsuspecting innocent people in the mall or at the grocery store? How about while in a traffic jam on Niagara Falls Boulevard or anywhere on Transit Road?
Maybe it’s to have a reason to smile at people for nothing other than to spread the holiday cheer. Or, is it because deep down inside we all want to be happy with each other and liked by one another?
Pick any one of these reasons but, I implore, that you do not concede that the marketing guru’s at each of the retail giants push it for any other reason that to expand their bottom line!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I sincerely hope you have a great, safe, cheerful and healthy holiday season for whatever reason you choose to celebrate it.
Or, you should probably call your therapist after tipping a glass of bourbon, to pop a Xanax purchased at a discount provided by the insurer that soaks you dry for coverage year after year once you’re released from county lock up because you punched a fake Santa at the mall right after crushing some poor old lady in line with her now terrified Grandchild after spending your last dime on some worthless toy for your ungrateful niece or nephew!
Cheers!