Ho, Ho, Ho, They Want More!

'Tis the season for Christmas music. Tune up and Sing along with me:

(To the tune of "Up On The House Top")

Up on the counter we don't pause
Pile up more "From Santa Claus"
Down in
the wallet we dig deep
Just so the little ones
Won't think we're cheap

Chorus
Ho, ho, ho!
They want Mo(re)!
Ho, ho, ho!
They'll
get Mo(re)!
Up on the counter
Click, click, click
Down go the credit
cards
One, Two Three.

STOP - STOP - STOP! You get the idea, . . .

But don't try to peg me with the old "Humbug!" I love Christmas as much, if not more, than the next person. I love the traditions, the trees, (which get smaller every year), the lights, the music, even the idea of giving, . . . What I don't like is the pressure that I have to give to people I haven't spoken to since last Christmas. (And they haven't spoken to me either.) In some large families, with all the nieces, nephews, grandkids, cousins, aunts and great uncles, you're known as "Uncle-who-gave-me-the-stupid-toy-that-I-traded-at-school-for-something-cooler."

And who says that God doesn't have a sense of humor when He gives people kids just like themselves?

Now, I work in retail, when I'm not work-crafting on this lap top. I'm one of the guys at the Starbucks drive thru you think is too happy because he gets a caffeine IV when he arrives at work. I enjoy people, and I enjoy asking those tough questions like "How's your day?" and "Finished your Christmas shopping?"

Women tend to have it down to a percentage -- "Only 46.3% left to go. But I still need to shop for the holiday meal."

Men are different. Some, have the look, "They scheduled Christmas this year? . . . When? . . . I didn’t get the memo."
Or, (under their breath) "I don't want to talk about it. Back off, buddy, or someone will get hurt."
Or, the smile, "It's really going well," (male code for: "Don't ask me that while my wife is in car. Can't you see the packages in the back seat? She bribed me my letting me come to Starbucks if I would go with her shopping. If I'm a really good boy, she will let me come back when we are done.")

It's when people flip out the debit/credit cards to pay for something as little as a $2 drink I understand the love-hate relationship we have with the Season. It starts with Thanksgiving and extends well past the Day-After-Christmas sales. No wonder the malls start playing Christmas Carols before the boos of Halloween have faded into the November morning light.

On Black Friday, (day after Thanksgiving) some news sources reported the average person spent $326 (more than they normally spend a day.) Santa was good to the merchants; They are "Dreaming of a Green Christmas" -- sales were up 19+% over last year.

Dr. Seuss had the right idea with The Grinch That Stole Christmas, but he had the wrong character: it should have been The GREED That Steals Christmas.

Of course, Mr. Greed is around all year, but he really shines in December with the brightness of the Bethlehem Star. Linda Kulman wrote, "Americans have double the number of shopping malls as it does high schools. Americans shell out more for garbage bags than 90% of the world's 210 countries spend for everything."

According to Bob Russell's Money: A User's Manual, in 1900, the average American wanted 72 different things and considered 18 of them essential. Today, the average person wants 500 things and considers 100 of them essential.

You're A Mean One" - (with apologies to Dr. Seuss)

You're a mean one, Mr. Greed
You really are a mole,
You're a monster, Mr. Greed,
You make my heart an empty hole,
You're a sly one, Mr. Greed
You're all about more stuff
You're a sneaky, Mr. Greed
You're the king of "not enough."

Don't get me wrong. I love getting and giving gifts, but I don't wait until Christmas to give them. Getting stuff and having stuff is pretty cool, but I don't want them to own or obligate me.

My wife ask me the other day way I wanted for Christmas, I drew a blank. I really couldn't come up with anything that I wanted. Maybe that's why I'm smiling when I pass your peppermint hot chocolate through the Starbucks window. I've not only got the reason for the season, but I'm not letting the season strip my soul or my pocketbook.