Merry Christmas

As mentioned in a previous post I truly enjoy the Holiday season. True I have been wearing my hat, I did the baking, the gingerbread house. I bought candy canes, had a Holiday cocktail party. I have been listening to carols and wearing red and green. But something has been different this year. I am working in retail. Somehow after hearing the same Christmas cd played 5 times in a row, its meaning somehow fades. After being ordered around, glared at, poked, and prodded I have becom disenchanted about the season of giving. People are astonished that popular Christmas items become back ordered or even worse, far worse, out of stock. That it is somehow my fault that these unfortunate souls have saved their most important gift purchasing for the few dwindling days prior to the largest commercial Holiday in the US. The insanity runs rampant through stores across this country as semi stable individuals realize they won't have new curtains in time for the holidays. People become hysterical upon the realization that gift wrapping will not occur in time for the giving when they arrive at our store 45 minutes before closing on Christmas Eve. But through all of these struggles and hardships I have smiled while humming carol after carol under my breath and I have cheerfully wished each and every lousy customer a Happy Holiday. I have racked my brain for gift ideas, for quick gift wrap solutions. I have provided ideas of other stores that may sell stockings on Christmas Eve. But at the end of each day I am Christmased out. Everything I love about Christmas has been demeaned. After sitting in church last evening I found that Christmas is special to everybody even if not in a religious sense. It is a time to spread joy and love and spend time with family and friends. It shouldn't be about running around like a lunatic making sure all of the bases are covered. So what if you forgot a stocking or a wreath. You don't actually need new curtains for company. It doesn't matter if a strand of lights went out. Christmas is about being with the people you love and sharing with each other. Yes, typically it is a season of gift giving. But perhaps that gift can be a smile to a stranger, or helping someone who appears to be lost. Maybe during this season, perhaps instead of racing everyone to the stores, we can sit back and appreciate what we already have and give thanks to our family and friends. I will now be stepping off of my soap box and joining my family downstairs.