But really am I? Regardless of what you believe, Pagan, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc... Regardless of the Birth conveniently falling around existing Non-Christian holidays and festivals, I do not believe that I am a Grinch at all.I have a serious issue with the guilt ridden undertones of the commercialization of an event held sacred to many. The spirit of giving has been co opted by the culture of excess. Don't think that I don't like stuff, don't think that I don't have excesses in my life, I do, mostly related to bikes, go figure. But when there is a worldwide blitz of information whose sole purpose is to get me to buy more stuff, cause it is Christmas, and that is whats done, It just drives me nuts.
I have been bantering with my boss about the recently noticed (by me) attempt by DeBeers and other architects of war/poverty/slavery and death in Sub Saharan Africa to guilt me into believing, that if I REALLY loved my wife, I would buy a little glass like bauble that has an overinflated price by artificially controlling supply. Add that to the way that other organizations market 'beauty' to my wife, then I might get attacked on both sides, lucky for me, I am not buying what they are selling (literally and figuratively) and Lyna does not like diamonds. I am sorry if you like diamonds or buy them for the one you love, they are evil, due to the evil that they have created and sustained, this is definitely not in the spirit of the season, the commercials sicken me.
This is NO Movie-this is real lifeNext is the way toys and the like are marketed to our children, I don't have any myself, but I am sure I would take a page from my parents, If I had a kid that wanted a 500 dollar video game for Christmas, I would say, NO. 1st off, go outside and play, maybe I was lucky enough to grow up in the days of Pong, definitely not addictive, so I played outside. You think maybe there is a correlation with sedentary, overweight America? Again, I love playing video games, nothing like a LAN party, but I don't own one. My parents set some limit somewhere, and when OI wanted something that costed more, they said no or they said go work for it, so I would mow lawns, deliver papers, shovel sidewalks before I was 16, then I worked at McDonald's (Bought a sweet Motebecane Touring bike in 84) and most of the time, when I made the money, I had forgotten about that piece of cheap plastic that i just HAD to have.
Good Strategy Right there to
The spirit of the season is giving, yes it is, but it is NOT about giving stuff bought at the local store, it is about giving LOVE, JOY, HOPE, UNDERSTANDING.
Give a hug, donate to a food bank, sponsor a family in need, give time, give energy and effort, help build a house, help build a community, help spread the Hope, Joy, Love and Understanding that is the true meaning of the season.
Regardless of religious affiliation, this is what the season needs to be about.
Dang, i need a bike ride soon.
9 comments:
I was pleasantly surprised when we moved into our neighborhood and received a invitation from one of our neighbors for a neighborhood Christmas party where instead of buying a stupid gift that no one needs for your neighbors they were taking donations for a local charity. It was nice to get together with neighbors with no pressure to bring a gift and remember the spirit of the season by helping a local charity.
Cyclocross is tomorrow though I'm not sure you can wait that long.
You do kind of look like the grinch, and you are sometimes old and cranky, but your heart is definitely not 3 sizes too small. I totally agree with the diamond thing. It was a point of huge contention between me and the wife/in-laws (mostly the latter). In the end I folded, but at least I went whole-sale. Some people see sparkles when they look at a diamond, all I see is exploitation of people in terrible conditions already.
ya get me a another new scalpel, i consume excess quantities
I thought the whole point of the story was that the Grinch thought Christmas was about the presents and the who's down in whoville knew better?
Here, here. Many countries don't let companies market directly to children. That idea was quickly shot down by television networks. It's just to bad our "free" country is run by big business and not the puppets in DC.
People who live on the other side of this may think diffrent? I personally like the excessive spending. Think about this, hmm, It helps the economy. It brings business to the bike shops that help us race, it pays taxes to widen our roads, and gives people jobs.
Good post Bob.
It's all about finding the RIGHT excessiveness to spend our hard-earned cash on ...
Diamonds? No.
Skis, bikes, cameras? ABSOLUTELY!
People don't get killed in the workshop in Connecticut where my bikes are built; presumably the Europeans building my skis aren't being guarded with rifles and shot for taking an extra bit of food ... and hopefully the Thais being employed by my Japanese camera company have decent working conditions.
It's always interesting to see the captcha images ... this one says "bsjuls" ... which of course I read as "bullshit jewels" ... rather appropriate for this post.
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