Make It Stop Already!

The day after Thanksgiving I noticed our neighbors putting up holiday lights and decorations. Now I know it is generally accepted that the day after Thanksgiving starts the Christmas / festive holiday season. About a third of the neighborhood had their lights and decorations up before the weekend was over. I'm not faulting them at all. I'll be joining them soon.

But then I went into a couple of stores after the weekend that were playing Christmas music. Non-stop. Ack! With 4 weeks to go? Make it stop already! I talked to one retail worker who told me that, yup, the company supplies the music for the stores and it was company policy. The day after Thanksgiving they have to play it. My sympathy goes out to anyone who works in such an environment.

My dear wife and I were "entertained" by the many stories of day-after Thanksgiving shopping riots. There were innumerable stores opening at 5:00 AM the Friday after Turkeyday with limited quantities of bargain items to entice people in. For example, Best Buy advertised 10 discounted laptop computers per store for something like $700. My wife wanted one, but just thinking of being in a store line that early makes us yawn. So come Friday we heard the stories of people getting trampled, getting into fights, assaulting employees, police being called.

I later spoke with one lady about this and her comment was "What gets into people?". For me it is clear... "What gets into retailers?". The reprehensible customer behavior was encouraged. The stores set up a competition and race. Whomever grabbed and hung onto one of the golden items got the bargain. Customers got up early and waited in a cold, dark, uncomfortable lines to get their shot at a sale item. Now, I don't want to give anyone ideas, but this sounds to me like it has the makings of a great reality show. The manipulation of consumer greed at its finest. My solution is also simple. Either guarantee that everyone waiting at 5:00 gets one of the items (or a voucher for one) or arrange a lottery style distribution so that they can eliminate the "out-a my way, it's mine, I grabbed it first" aspect. Irresponsible marketing...

Tis the Season

We've started watching those obligatory holiday movies. Or maybe I should say counter-holiday movies. You know the ones... The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Addams Family, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Gremlins, Trading Places...

Rosie, Rosie...

I saw this one and rolled in laughter:

"Blaming guns for Columbine is like blaming spoons for Rosie O'Donnell being fat."

You have to understand the context ... Rosie is an anti-gun advocate who has stated that guns should be banned completely ... while she has armed guards to protect herself. You also have to understand that the guns used at Columbine were all obtained illegally. Maybe Rosie should give up her gunmen, pulpit ... and spoons.

Bridezilla On The Rampage

I mentioned a while ago that my dear wife had been invited to be a bridesmaid at a friends wedding in mid 2006. She agreed. Then the changes and special requests started. The first change was a big one that set the tone. The bride moved the wedding from the original location (a very nice church about an hour drive from here) to Hawaii (an appreciably longer and more expensive trip for our family of four). Now there is talk of expensive makeup professionals, coordinating early arrival and helping out with preparations...

All my wife has to do is mention the woman's name, and I'm ready with "What's Bridezilla up to now...".

If you google the term Bridezilla you will get over 100,000 hits. Loads of anecdotal descriptions of selfish, controlling and downright hard to believe behavior.

"Bridezilla (brid zil/a) n. a bride who is greedy, thoughtless and rude, thinks nothing of etiquette and believes her friends and family should cater to all of her desires, no matter how outrageous."

And the latter part is proving true - making me wonder, with about a half year to go, what's next?

Peanut Butter and Matching Socks

My eldest daughter announced that she doesn't like nutty peanut butter. She wants the creamy stuff. Imagine that! Quite a rebellious position to take in our house. But that isn't all. Not only did her socks match each other today, but they matched her other clothes. No color cacophony today. She actually looked well dressed.

As a Dad with 2 daughters, I know that bigger changes are afoot. But that won't stop me from enjoying a good sideline commentary...

The Winds of Fate
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
'Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.

Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate,
As we voyage along through life:
'Tis the set of the soul
That decides its goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

20/20 ... It's Clear To Me
Our local electricity provider has a special conservation program. If you reduce your electric usage for the month by 20% from the previous year they will reduce your energy bill by another 20%. Nice sentiment, but the message I get is that it is a special program to reward past energy hogs. Since we were energy conscious in past years, there is no way to cut our electric usage by a fifth without disabling major appliances. So the message is clear. I need to increase my electric usage this year by 25% so I can take advantage of the program next year, when electricity rates are even more expensive...

Big Box Mart
If you haven't seen the Big Box Mart parody over at Jibjab, it's a hoot (and somewhat thought provoking)!

The Holiday $ea$on
Even before Halloween there was Christmas merchandise on the shelves. I know that most retailers rely on the Holiday season and Christmas spending to get them into the black (profitable) for the year. But when I see all the knick knacks and promotions, it looks to me like the holidays is all about merchandising and gift lists...

But I know this isn't true. People bring the spirit. Merchants are only doing what is expected. Merchandising and promoting. Holiday spirit isn't measured by how much we spend or buy. It is measured by something much more precious. The best things in life aren't things...

Speaking of which ... I have a bunch of Halloween and special occasion photos to prepare and send off to brighten the day of a distant Grandma...