I’m having difficulty keeping track of\nwhat season it is these days; and it’s probably because of 3 things: \nTV, radio, the internet, newspapers… OK, 4 things… the stores…\nOK, that’s 5 things… oh and OK, billboards… so 6 things. \nProbably lots more things. Now, I could have sworn this was\ndifferent in previous years. But now everything is rush-rush-rush\nand go-go-go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know what I mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Holidays. I’m having trouble because\nall those 6 things (and probably lots more things) are bombarding me\nwith holiday messages. This year, in like late June I think, the\n\u201cBack To School\u201d stuff started appearing. Kids were barely out\nof school for the year!! Then \u201cHallowe’en Season\u201d may have\nstarted in August. Pretty sure I saw Hallowe’en stuff in the stores\naround that time. \u201cHallowe’en Season\u201d overlaps the Thanksgiving\nshopping extravaganza, which in turn is really ramped up right now of\ncourse. Oh, and not to forget Christmas. That shopping season\nstarted in late September I believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, you have Black\nFriday. Well maybe you<\/strong><\/em> do, but I have fingers on both\nhands so I really don’t give a flying mahookey about Black Friday. \nThat may be due to the lingering distaste I still harbor for the name\nBlack Friday; because in the economic downturn of the early 1990’s a\nBlack Friday was one of those fateful days when people were being\ndownsized out of a job. I had first hand experience with this happy\nphenomenon. One November day back in 1992, my wife gave me a smooch\nas I was on my out the door for work. \u201cHave a nice day,\u201d she\nsaid cheerfully. \u201cWell, it’s Black Friday,\u201d I said in a low\ntone. Couple hours later I was laid off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since then I’ve always been a bit\napprehensive about Black Friday. My disdain has been substantiated\nafter witnessing some of the comically sad Black Friday altercations\nthat have erupted during sales events on the Friday after\nThanksgiving. One could find such a fracas amusing, but ultimately I\nwas sad to see such materially driven outbursts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Retailers have since changed their\ntactics, using all kinds of gimmicks to get people to spend more\nonline and in the stores. A local grocery chain proclaimed a \u201c3\nDay Sale\u201d on turkeys, for a crazy price of 33 cents a pound. That\nwas a week ago, and they’re still selling turkeys for the same price.\n Online is much the same story. Many of the shopping sites I’ve\nvisited declare \u201cGet Black Friday Deals NOW!!\u201d And it isn’t even\nFriday!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I suppose I should try a little harder\nto ignore all the commercial hoopla and just use the actual calendar\nto figure out what day or season it is. In order to do so, I’d\nprobably have to live in a cave or something. But I like to get out\nand about, so I’ll just have to learn to accept the fact that\nshopping seasons will continue to become a little weirder every year.\n In the meantime, when my friends ask me, \u201chey Ken, did you start\nyour Holiday shopping yet?\u201d I’ll have the same answer I’ve had for\nmany Novembers in a row:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNope.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n So yes, I do go shopping. But I also get pretty mushy this time of year with gratitude. I’m blessed in this life, and I have to admit, aside from all the commercial yowling there are also lots of reminders to give back. And here’s a cartoon I remember seeing when I was a kid that still warms my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n