Back when I was a lad, the Christmas holiday was a very special time, but what we see today is not just pathetic but positively awful.  I know that my mother, god rest her long-dead soul, would never have dreamed of erecting a tree or putting up decorations before Christmas Eve, and there was never any mention of Xmas at all before December had started.  It was a real family occasion, and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Mark you, up until the winter of 1959, we never had a television, so the days were filled with games and singing, joyous and carefree as only such get-togethers can be, yet within a decade of TV becoming popular, Christmas had become a much more insular and commercialized affair, people encouraged to begin planning out their Xmas holidays on January 1st, to be sure they had the best of times.

What got lost among this wave of commercialism was that one ingredient that always had rendered Christmas a memorable festivity, namely the personal touch.  Back when any present was a boon, because money was tight, there would never have been thoughts of siblings exchanging gifts. or relatives buying for anyone other than their own, which tended to keep things in perspective.  Presents given and received were so much more meaningful, but do we have today instead?

These days the consumer driven society in which we live demands that everyone in any family group give everyone else presents, meaning inevitably that oceans of unwanted soaps, lotions, talcum powders, socks, scarves etc end up in landfill, because the recipients never actually wanted them anymore than the givers wanted to do it, but the form book needs to be obeyed.

I have, now in my 61st year, come to despise the awfulness of the Christmas period, because nowadays stores have Xmas decorations up the moment those Halloween ones are taken down, and people are encouraged for weeks beforehand to buy shopping trolleys so laden with goodies that they can barely be moved, not just once but often, to be sure nothing has been missed.

With me and my wife, even despite our best intentions and attempts to be sensible, there will still be a bin full of rubbish from out over-indulgence, and across the UK as a whole it must represent a Mount Everest size pile of totally unnecessary waste, while all around the world, and even on our own doorsteps in this country, lots of people are starving.  

I have to say it, because the season of goodwill seems to me to be a genuine oxymoron, because, bah humbug, we usually only ever think of giving that goodwill to those we know, and those we don’t need to fend for themselves.  Christmas has, I am truly sorry to say, lost the sparkle and the magic which was ever-present only 50 years ago, and we all the much worse off for it. 

When I began in retail in 1988, I worked for the once beloved Woodward & Lothrop, or Woodies as we Washingtonians called it. Back then on the day after Christmas, we would process returns without tags or gift receipts at a desk where we had computerized printouts of the entire inventory the store had carried all year long. Because I was in high school and there were commissioned sales people working the floor, invariably I would end up at that terrible desk where I would have to hand out a return voucher to a customer to redeem at a register that, of course, had a line just as long the one he had just waited in to “return” the merchandise. Needless to say, I bore the brunt of many a post-Christmas rant.

In the 24 years that have passed since that time so much has changed in retail. In the field of Retail Anthropology, that was the ice age. Woodies, like so many regional department store dinosaurs, is extinct; Amazon is here and Gap is slugging it out somewhere in-between; but the agony of holiday returns remains constant. With the recession, pretty much across the board, return policies have become increasingly challenging for both the retailer and the customer. It turns out that fashionable clothing is now a perishable commodity and retailers’ selling cycles last for weeks instead of seasons with their return policies adjusting accordingly.

For the customer planning to venture out on December 26 to make returns and take advantage of those great post-Christmas deals, a few pointers, if I may.

The clerk at the register has nothing whatsoever to do with anything outside of that moment when you approach the register. They do not control the weather. They do not control mall parking. They do not control the number of people out shopping. They do not control the baristas at Starbucks. They do not control the inventory carried in the store. They do not control the fact that your spouse bought you something a couple sizes too big. Most importantly, they do not control the policies they are required to enforce at the register.

The clerks in front of you at that moment have given up most of their valuable holiday time with family, probably unwillingly, for various reasons mainly to do with money. Maybe they need a second job to pay the mortgage; maybe they need help to pay for school or student loans; maybe they need just some money coming in because their “real-world” job was cut six months ago. Just know that while you were yukking it up with friends and loved ones at holiday parties every weekend for two months now, these people were stuck here making sure you had gifts to bring to those parties.

Now clerks, you too, can play a part in making these moments easier.

Remember that the poor people in front of you just stood an hour in line basically because someone gave them a gift that just sucked in some way or other. Before meeting you at the register, your customer probably spent an hour driving around a parking lot looking for a space and spilled coffee all down the front of that beautiful Christmas sweater she insists on wearing even though Christmas was yesterday.

You’re not there to judge that sweater. You’re not there to play retail robo-cop because she doesn’t have a gift receipt. You’re there to help her get in and out with whatever shred of dignity she has left after her husband just gave her that size 16 that should have been a 10 on a carefully encrypted gift receipt that also shows an xs 3-pack of silk bikini cut briefs with bows bought just a couple days before, on Christmas Eve.

So, this year, let’s agree that whatever side of the register we stand on, we’ll look over it to see the humanity of the person standing there. Let’s bring that fabled old-fashioned meaning of Christmas out of the closet with all the other nostalgic knick-knacks that make us love the holidays and truly celebrate it, even at the mall. Take it from me, it won’t kill you – it’ll actually make those 8 dreadfully long hours at the mall a whole lot more pleasant.

Those that cling to doubt and suspicion must wake up and realize that a better relationship among nations would help each others economy in which there should be no strings attached. The antiquated system of governments that look inward is fading away. Capitalism does not have to isolate the poor and middle class. There are deficiencies in governments that can be rectified. Globalization can be compared to a long chain, consisting of numerous links, the links being the people in general that constitute each nation. Analogically, the links help maintain the chain. People of every class that are linked to form the chain of globalization should consider themselves indispensable, since globalization must depend on the firmness and strength of the links from which it is formed.

It is time to remove restrictions in trade, and open up avenues of goodwill and trust. Hopefully, when these are realized, peace and understanding would be internationally attained.

It behooves those that remain suspicious about globalization to merge with those that are in favor of getting it off the ground and into the highway of confidence and trust where there would be an acceleration of trade without interruption.

Institutions that are worthy of note, based on sound relationships, are fraternities and sisterhoods of goodwill, democracies that are conducive to unity, peace and understanding, along lines of the legitimate rights of people, such as education, workable laws, governing freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion, the objective being the commonality of motivation in the way of peace and prosperity, based on values that should not be compromised.

A breakdown in any kind of worthy relationship encourages evil to supersede good, in all walks of life, including diplomacy, caused mostly by greed, self-aggrandizement and arrogance that cut through bonds of freedom, causing a chain reaction of irregularities that adversely affect societal needs. Sound relationships, nationally and internationally, serve to lubricate the ”engine of democracy,” for the purpose of freely cranking out the much-needed values of peace, amity, goodwill, and last, but not least, the summation of love from which spring the elements of faith and hope to which we must constantly cling. 

Think about this, how many times have you driven next to, or walked next to a homeless person, and didn’t give them anything. Regardless of what they would spend the money on, if we are so caring, why don’t we stop and give them anything. A species that is so caring wouldn’t have a problem giving a dime to bring someone else happiness. Yet, Americans don’t want to pay taxes nor pay a little extra for there schools. In Fairfield, California, every household was asked to pay $18 to keep sports in schools. The parents of graduated seniors, and kids who didn’t play sports said they wouldn’t give a thing. They’re logic was that if their kid wasn’t playing, then why should they have to pay. Therefore, sports were cancelled from the school district to close a budget deficit.

All wars are created by one side thinking their ideology is better than another. Isn’t that another sign of ruthless selfishness. If we disagree in this world shouldn’t we agree to disagree, and still be friends. Its seems to me that if human nature is overrall caring, this conclusion would be reality but it isn’t.

Just a thought. Couldn’t we say human nature actually is overwhelmingly selfish. Just think of that toddler who goes through that “mine” phase. The phase where everything they get, the believe is theirs and theirs only. At a very young age we experience selfishness, and don’t want to share. I always thought when we put our own needs over someone elses, that was selfishness. I’m sure everyone puts their needs ahead of others, because if you are hungry and your at your last dollar, do you give it to a homeless person or to yourself. Most would say yourself. But if you spend that dollar on yourself, instead of someone in need thats selfish.

Food for thought. If we all worried about each other, and helped one another, then we wouldn’t have to worry about starving because most likely somone will bring you food. It sucks that we don’t live in that society.

Go through your day thinking about all the things you do, and see if they are selfish or not. I believe we are selfish at nature. We as humans are so selfish that if we give what we have, there isn’t always someone to give back. Making it hard to give, because we end up with nothing. Couldn’t we say that our whole society thrives off of selfishness. People keep their own mouths fed with selfishness. The rich stay rich because of selfishness. We value the haves over the have nots, and the haves try hard to keep the have nots stagnant in their have not position.

If you really look at our lives, is human nature really caring? Or is human nature overwhelmingly selfish? Comment, rate, and take full advantage of this page. www.6dollarriches.com

Religion by itself could be benign when imbued exclusively in reconciliation and the philosophy of love, charity and goodwill.  Regrettably, such solid, moral values have been contorted and adulterated by misconceptions that are altogether alien to its intended purpose, such as the ongoing activities of terrorists, driven by fanaticism.

Politics, on the other hand, could be good only as far as it could cater to the needs of the people, the poor, middle class and the affluent, without any kind of restriction that takes away bare necessities and privileges.  Sound relationships could be maintained only from the standpoint of a commonality of motives and objectives that could not be sustainable indefinitely because of infusions of ideas advocated by politicians whose doctrines of interest conflict with those that might think otherwise.  Yet, in spite of the hurdles that hinder the permanence of sound relationships, the clarion call for world peace continues to echo in the corridors of diplomacy.

On the other hand, the entity of a religion, while advocating moral values, could also infringe on the borders of another religion, as evidenced by mass conversions and persecutions in the past, and even dares to promote antiquated tenets of enslavement to traditions that are set in bold relief, which brings us to a point where we wonder if world peace could ever be achieved, given the rigidity of certain conflicting and antiquated ideologies.

If we were to work feverishly to secure a common ground for world peace, in spite of contradictions and ideological divisions, we would, sooner or later, arrive at a dead end.   When we look back at events that happened throughout the ages, we begin to wonder what the future holds for the next generation.

Sure. Fine.Whatever.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

It’s not that I know way too many employable people out there who are still unemployed and have been for over a year now. It’s not that I see less traffic on my daily commute (something that occurred right when everything crashed the first time around). It’s something even more simple and mundane than all that.

I’m talking about thrift stores.

When the economy is good, these stores are often relatively devoid of shoppers, and those who are shopping are always polite to each other. Now turn the economy upside down. People are trying to save every last dime they can, regardless of their employment status. The thrift stores are packed.

Not only are the stores packed, but the overall atmosphere of the stores goes from one of friendly buying (where at worst you’ll have to antique dealers fighting over the same serving platter) to absolute mayhem. Shoppers are no longer willing to move, even when you give a polite excuse me to try and squeeze by (Look lady, I’m a guy, I’ve got no interest in trying to snag those clothes out from under your nose). Since the downturn I’ve had to fight my way through people more than once. I have even seen entire aisles blocked off by one person who’s digging around trying to find a bargain on numerous occaisions.

Send the economy into a spiral and you’ll find there are more people who are willing to try and cheat the store, and the charity that it supports (which very well may even be helping them). For example, the Salvation Army had a toilet seat for sale at $9.99 (pretty reasonable since it was brand new). Not an hour after it was put out, a lady was trying to buy it, with a sale colored sticker on it for $0.99! She couldn’t even be bothered to try and find a reasonable sale tag to swap it out with, she had to go for the jugular and try and get the seat for 49 cents!

Best of all, you get watched like a hawk. Not by the employees, but by the other customers. If you’re carrying things around with you while you shop, then it must stand to reason that those items are desireable. Set them down and you’re liable to find that someone else will snap those items up, sometimes from right under your nose! I’ve had the pleasure of testing this theory numerous times. Each time, I’m pleased to say that I was able to actually get another shopper to buy an item that they weren’t looking for, just because I put it back after walking around with it and acted like I was thinking about buying it. Goodwill and Salvation Army, you guys have at least an extra $50 in sales each because of me pulling this little trick.

So the next time you think that the economy is turning around, before you believe the news and all the pundits, make a quick stop and a few thrift stores and see for yourself.

Wikipedia

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A huge white official UN airplane touched down in the Dominican Republic with very precious cargo yesterday. Actress and UN goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie arrived on the Island of Hispaniola (which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti) on behalf of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

Ms. Jolie’s first stop was a hospital close to the Haitian border she visited with Haitian children who had been transported to the Dominican Republic for care. Today she and her entourage crossed the border into Haiti to tour the damaged city of Porte-au-Prince and to visit survivors of the devastating earthquake of January 12/2010.

Jolie and her husband Brad Pitt have donated $1 million to the aid agency Doctors without Borders.

Does anyone else see a potential problem with Angelina Jolie and her entourage traipsing through the rubble that used to be Porte-au-Prince? Thousands of aid workers and medical personnel are in the city trying to save lives and distribute food to millions of survivors in an environment that has only recently been upgraded from utter chaos to slightly less that utter chaos.

Ms. Jolie is not unfamiliar with chaos. She creates it whenever she steps out in public. She needs an entourage of body guards to protect her when she goes to her mailbox. (OK – I don’t have a source to back that statement on account of it just being a joke – I’m sure that she has people to collect her mail, or she might have it trucked in). My point is that Angelina Jolie is one of the most famous people on the planet and she can draw in a crowd faster than a redneck shouting FREE BEER at a tractor pull.

Imagine a crowd of celebrity worshippers, paparazzi, and journalists trying to keep pace with Ms Jolie and her entourage while navigating streets that are already crowded with unstable piles of rubble, injured people, homeless people (that would include almost everyone living in Porte-au-Prince), and people and equipment trying to clear rubble and remove corpses.

I am not opposed to celebrities using their star power to raise money for humanitarian needs, or raise public awareness of various causes. I admire Angelina Jolie very much for her generosity and dedication to humanitarian causes. I am sure that her visit to Haiti will influence many of her fans to follow her example and donate to the Haitian cause. I just hope that not too many of them try to follow her to Porte-au-Prince to catch a glimpse of the star and try to get her autograph.

I could be wrong about this, and maybe there won’t be any problems with this visit. I’m sure that by tomorrow there will be several million more updates on the internet and TV to keep us informed of Angelina Jolie’s every move.

(Design by Timm Harris, Wrexham, North Wales – timmgestalt@hotmail.com)

Is there anyone else out there who thinks we have lost our way when it comes to Christmas. I think those of us with an ounce of common sense, compassion and the most basic understanding of many people’s desperate plight here and abroad, could and should implement a new rule at Christmas.

Let’s agree to stop giving Christmas gifts to adults. Let’s continue to give as we would normally to our children, and children we know, keep the magic and Santa, but instead of spending money on our adult friends and relatives, let’s donate £50 each or more dependant on income, to a charity of our choice. Most of us spend a lot more than that at Christmas when it’s all added up.

Christmas is about children and goodwill. Let’s teach our children something other than consumer culture at this one time of the year.

If not money then pledge/donate time to a local charity and spread some goodwill. Bring our communities together with a common purpose.

I am no fan of organised religion, and I don’t think those who follow it are all bad….or good! Just as those of us who don’t follow it are neither good nor bad per se! But supermarkets are the new buildings we worship in, jammed to the gunnel’s with people buying stuff they don’t need or can’t afford out of greed or obligation…the churches are empty in comparison…My point is that whether you are a Christian or not, it’s supposed to be a christian festival, not a High Street store love-in!

The benefits are clear :-

• there is less pressure on parents to keep up with the Jones;
• families do not go into debt, because they buy the children’s gifts as norm with no added burden except what they can afford as a donation;
• our children learn that there are others who are more needy in the world, that they can directly help rather than just pretend they don’t exist;
• our charities are given a regular much needed boost.

But we all have to buy into this…..let’s call the cash or time donated  ‘Goodwill’ (or something more catchy). In cards, we can let our friends know which charity we gave to, and it would encourage them to come on board too. Charities might even give a roll of stickers for us to stick in cards as a receipt for the donation. By visibly showing our stance, we alleviate the pressure of obligation others feel to spend money they do not have.

I’m not from the bah humbug school, far from it. Honestly! And before anyone says that it wouldn’t work because there has to be something in it for business – well hey, wait a minute, since when did the ordinary people of this world favour the big guy over the underdog! We have all moaned about corruption and the pursuit of money in this 21st Century world, whether it be MP’s expenses, the lack of funding for our armed service personnel to do their job better and safer, or the reckless culture still prevailing in the financial markets all over the planet….this is about doing something for your fellow man, and standing up for the weak is a just and noble motivation, stuff the cynics. So the only reason it wouldn’t work would be because we don’t want it.

Would anyone disagree that the present culture of more, more, more, is a very unhealthy example our children are being brought up on? If we really believe in or even just respect the spirit and message Christmas brings each year, then let’s buy into that, and not the excuse for avarice it has become.

Today, one might wonder how and why fanaticism had infiltrated religion to the extent that it continues to engender animosities, mayhem and divisions, considered iniminical to peace and harmony on which the concept of any religion is based.   Greed and power has replaced the virtues of love and understanding, nations are warring with one another; even violating the precepts contained within the pages of their holy books.

It behoves the nations of this world to cease politicizing religion, and realizing that in the end, the Earth may not continue to tolerate abuses in any shape or form, and that regardless of the divergence of ideologies, there is a dire need for peace and amity without which,  humanity might be heading toward its own self-destruction.