by Sandy Sand
Merchant greed may be out, consumer sanity and the real meaning of Christmas in.
For years I’ve been bitching about merchant greed, especially during the holidays.
It’s not that I want merchants to go bankrupt, it’s that I want to see some sanity restored to the holiday shopping season. They're going to have to learn to tighten their belts and get along with less, just as we have to.
Stores do not have to be opened 18 hours a day; they will sell the same amount of seasonal crap as they will by staying open only 10 hours a day.
My granny told me of the days when stores weren’t open on Sundays at all, as well as not being open on the Sunday before Christmas. It was a shopper’s joy when they remained open until 9 p.m. for the 10 days prior to Christmas.
Although not fun to work evening hours, it’s doable and still give employees time to be with their families and tuck the kiddies into bed.
It is outrageously ridiculous for stores to open at 4 a.m., 5 a.m., or even 6 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Who are the people who are the most employed in retail? Women, of course.
Women, the same people who worked a full day on Thanksgiving and Christmas; stood on their feet all day preparing, cooking, waiting on their couch potato, football-watching husbands, significant others and boyfriends and then cleaned up the mess.
They are the ones, who by and large have to get up at the ungodly hour of three, four or five to be at work at four, five or six in the morning.
Credit crunch
It was reported in last week’s papers that too many people have yet to pay off their credit card debt from last year’s holidays.
They really don’t need to increase that debt any more this year by being conned and guilt tripped into buying a bunch of crappy toys that will either be disintegrated or forgotten by New Year’s.
With all due disrespect to greedy retailers, who overwork and underpay their employees, it’s long past time to go back to the real meaning of Christmas for those who practice it religiously, and for those who participate at work, and get in on the act because “everybody else is,” and they’re forced to.
I don’t know about you, but when I worked, it was to support my family and pay for all the necessities. There was one extra dime to spend on gifts for anyone at work…most of whom were lucky if they got a friendly hello, because I wouldn’t have chosen 99 percent of them as friends.
If you’re honest, you might say the same thing. Co-workers are like family; they’re forced on us, we don’t choose them.
As adults, we’re making difficult choices. Some are choosing between food and medication, or between turning on the heat and rent, or a million other things.
If we can learn to economize, so can our children learn to be economic with their holiday desires. They are part of a family and they must learn to participate in family matters during good as well as bad times.
This Christmas/holiday season is going to bring along with it some big lessons in learning what the true meaning of Christmas is. Not a time of selfish longings, but a time of good spirit and goodwill and being thankful for what we have spiritually and materially and not wanting more of the material things.
Remember the Grinch? He could steal all the trapping of Christmas, but he couldn’t steal the spirit.
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