Black Friday

It doesn't feel right posting this so soon after Eddie's passing, but I think it might be a good step forward for everyone. I am still sad about the Ed-meister and sad that my sister lost her company. I will shift gears nonetheless...

The day after Thanksgiving in the US is the biggest shopping day of the year. They call it 'black friday'. Some stores open at midnight and people swarm the stores literally fighting, scratching and clawing to get the best deals. I just read that two men were shot and killed at a Toys R' Us store in Palm Desert, CA. I know that store, I have been there! Can you imagine going toy shopping for your kids and hearing shots ring out? Do you really need to get up first thing in the morning to save a few bucks off the web-kins? This episode seemed to be independent of the whole 'Black Friday'

The whole craziness that is buying things at for Christmas is very off-putting. Of course, when you were a kid Christmas was about the presents and possibly having time to fool around with cousin's that you never got to see much, but mostly about the presents.

I feel very uncomfortable getting things for Christmas anymore. I would rather sit there and watch everyone else open their gifts than open mine. I always appreciate what I get, but I don't want anyone to go through the stress that they go through to find me 'the right thing'. I am more of a believer of: if you find something throughout the year that you think might be nice for someone, whatever the time of year, go ahead and pick it up. Getting a gift from someone on any given 'wednesday' shows a great deal about the thought than a prearranged date to exchange gifts.

Conversely when I go Christmas shopping, what if I don't find the 'right gift'? I feel really bad giving someone a gift that they might like as opposed to one I know they will love. I LOVE giving gifts to people that I know they will love. I can hardly contain myself when they are opening it, and often, long before they open it. When I was a kid I had a hard time keeping a secret about people's gifts. I remember my mom just giving me some light-hearted nudging about what her gift was once, and I spilled it like a 14 month old holding a glass of kool-aid.

Not only could I not wait for people to know what their gifts were, I couldn't wait to know what mine were. When I was a kid, I was always the one who would comb the house for the hidden packages. I remember finding presents in the van, in the spare bedroom, and in my parents closet. Their bedroom closet? Please. They were going to have to do much better than that. The van, now that was a pretty good one.

Now that I am older, not only do I not want to know, I would prefer to just be the giver and that is all. Hitch, on the other hand, loves Christmas and is EXACTLY like I was as a kid...excpet he isn't quite a kid. He basically gives me running total of how many idea's he has, when he is doing his shopping, and whether or not he is finished. I have to be sure to tell him several times that I DON'T want to know what my gifts are.

To me, Christmas is about the relaxing music, the lights, the beauty of the snow, and of course, getting together eating a big fat turkey dinner and just hanging out.