Yes, here it is. That holiday. You're already behind with a slim chance of catching up. I see that some shoppers on Black Friday weren't on their best behavior. Don't they know that Santa's watching? More than likely they've been bad all year.
I wish I could let it all go and be giddy and gay, in the old fashioned way of course. But at this point, there's little innocence, or illusion of innocence, to be found. Yet, I still am drawn to the lights of the season. Perhaps they are just reminders of times past or the illumination that seems to be so badly needed.
Light comes in many forms, as does enlightenment. Things change with new understanding, but sometimes it takes a long time and some will never get why the changes were needed. I try to be somewhat aware of what others face, particularly women and children. There are so many examples of the mistreatment, abuse, violence, domination, rape, war, drones and enslavement that one wonders what to hell is going on and why isn't anyone doing anything about it. Suffice to say, most men are quite stupid. .....And that includes me.
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WHY? WHY? WHY?
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Selling sacred texts has changed somewhat over the years as the selling of books in general. But it was curious when Costco labeled the Bible FICTION as many of you might have seen.
I'm not sure what all was involved, but it's easy to see the concern. Now my idea is that someone wanted to get their work done fast so he/she could go for a smoke and the only labels he/she had were FICTION and NON FICTION. Perhaps such a choice shouldn't be left to someone with a nicotine deficit, but the choice has been made by many others under idea conditions and they still made the wrong choice. I'm not sure how accurate this poll is, but I offer it in that antidotal sense.
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"Do you have a light?" I don't hear that question anymore. There has been a whole shift to the better. And when we look at the smoking era advertising, it's interesting to see who shows up. There was a time when giving a carton of cigarettes was a decent enough gift, even Santa thought so. But my favorite promoter was Ronald Reagan, only because my wife's brother and sister-in-law think he was better than President Obama, who is someone who might still be glad to get a carton of cigarettes for Christmas.
But in all fairness, we should get credit for changing, admitting we were wrong, and telling how we saw the light. ...What mortals we be.
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Here's a nice reminder of another attitude that has changed. ...I think. Although now, I wouldn't mind getting some of these myself. I do believe there's going to be a hand mixer under the tree, but do I dare to ask Santa for a Kitchen Aide with all the attachments?
A very wise Republican representative said the other day that you have to talk to women on an emotional level.
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Tacky Christmas declarations are like porn. I'll know them when I see them. And what about those who try to use the most bulbs and have a Disney level light show? I guess you can only hope they're nowhere near you. I might have done more with lights, but I never did. I got enough from looking at what others had done, tacky or not.
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At Christmas in Vietnam, I was missing home, family, church and everything I had come to love about growing up in the country. Perhaps when the feelings are so deep, it takes more than the normal ways of expressing them. I'll not apologize for the sentimentality and idealism. Sometimes that's all you have and it's just as real as anything else.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
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BONUS PIC
CREDITS- Almutawake for photo of Muslim mother and child, Huffington Post, an email my neighbor sent me, Flicker and Chesterfield, who want to remind you that it's not too late to send a carton of cigarettes to a loved one.
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