Food for Thought - November, 2008

I hate to sound all Grinchy on this day before Thanksgiving, but this whole holiday thing gets to be a bit much. Here’s what I mean.

Kohl’s, which has a sale going practically every day of the year, is advertising a 4 AM start time on Black Friday to mark the beginning of the shopping season. Believe me, if I show up anywhere at 4 AM, it is more likely to be the emergency room, because I am either dying or I have lost my mind. What on earth would I need to buy sooooooo badly that I would get to a store at 4 AM? I can only imagine the cranky cashiers forced to come in at that ungodly hour. And to get up that early would require me to set my alarm for 3ish, at which time I would be jolted from my slumber by the Christmas music that the local station has been playing non-stop since November 15th. Please, can’t I get the news and weather without Burl Ives’ warbling?

Every holiday season is marked by the same question: “What do you want for the holiday?” Good question. I don’t know. When I need something, I buy it. And I’d rather buy something for someone when I see it and I know they will love it than be forced to find what they have requested or compromise by buying something just to give a friend a gift. I used to buy a ton of gifts. Now I buy far fewer gifts, and many of them are gift cards. That’s like saying, “Go shopping for yourself because I am devoid of ideas.”

So let’s think about skipping the gifty-gifts, the gift cards and the stuff we already have too many of or no need for and give something better. Let’s go out to dinner, go to a movie, stay home and watch a DVD or do something together that we would both enjoy. I’ll give you a calendar or note cards of photos that I have taken or make a CD of songs I know you like. You can bake me some cookies or bring me a bunch of fresh flowers. Or let’s make a donation to a charity. The shelves of the food banks are nearly bare, and some soup kitchens have been forced to cut out some of the meals they normally serve. How can we complain about how fattening the holiday season is when there are people who count on a food bank for the essentials, not the chestnut stuffing? I read about a project to send shoeboxes of supplies and goodies to our soldiers. And each year the Johnson & Johnson communications department generously donates clothing and supplies to help foster children, especially older kids who have shuttled from home to home, often without a bag to hold their meager possessions. My former colleagues contribute their time to shop and stuff the bags with everything from pajamas and socks to shirts and sweaters.

Oprah had a woman on her show today who gave each of her four grown children a box of items she had saved from their childhood. A piece of carpet, a Mother’s Day card, a picture drawn in school were among the items included. Her grown children loved the reminders of how their mother had treasured each of these possessions and had preserved them Sure, it took her years to save and prepare the boxes, but it still had to be better than going to the Kohl’s sale at 4 AM and buying a bunch of stuff whose best attribute is that it was a bargain.

Isn’t that what the holidays should be about?

I wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving and some food for thought.