Humbug!
December 6, 2005
I am a Scrooge. But it’s not because I hate Christmas, I find it quite a festive time of year. You know, a nice hot-toddy or six, a warm fire, close friends getting belligerently drunk, inevitably conversation leads to the “one about that girl who dumped you in high-school” and out come the waterworks, and the fists of fury & the ensuing good times…
What really chaps my ass is the gift giving, and pretention, and all the other made-up malarkey that fills the air between Halloween and New Year’s Eve in order to induce you to spend your money. You see, aside from life-sustaining alcohol, I don’t sepnd a whole lot of money on myself. I don’t normally spend a whole lot on others, either, because I don’t make that much and taking care of my own wants and needs is, naturally, my first prerogative.
But when Christmas comes around - I find myself shamed into buying things for others. A gift card here, a DVD there, and so on. I am shamed into these purchases because I know the recipients thereof are buying things for me, and you see, it’s got to be at least somewhat reciprocal. I know, I know, it’s supposed to be about the “Joy of Giving,” but most people I know would be offended if I didn’t reciprocate.
So this is the problem: they’re buying me gifts that, perhaps I want (like that digital camera), but nonetheless I wouldn’t be buying for myself because I don’t need them that bad (i.e. can’t afford them). Additionally, I wouldn’t be off spending money on others willy-nilly, either, again, chiefly because I can’t afford to do so.
The result of all this is that I’m induced to spend my money on other people, who are going to get me a bunch of gifts that I wouldn’t waste my own money on. Except for Mom & Pop, they rock. They are certainly running a bilateral christmas gift deficit with me.
HeavyLifting makes the same point, albeit much more concisely.
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