THE DECEMBER COUNT DOWN

The commercial world sees only a balance sheet, yet many things happen during the time following "Black Friday" after Thanksgiving that throw things out of balance. For example, in their haste to capture the first Christmas shoppers, many stores this year adopted the absurd policy of opening in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning. Before our turkey dinner was even digested, we could stand in line at the department stores, waiting to ravage the aisles where untold bargains waited to be plucked. But if it was cold, we were hungry or in a bad mood, the people around us were restless and closed in too tight, or the shop keepers were not ready when we were, the stage was set for drama-and trauma. In New York the customers waiting in line at a major store were so eager to go in and claim their bargains that when the door finally opened, they stormed in as a mob and trampled the unwitting clerk to death. No one noticed that he was on the floor beneath them, or if they did notice they didn't care. It was more important to keep going and beat everyone else to the desired toy, TV, or appliance on our gift list. If there were casualties, that was the store's problem!

Those were the people who were able to shop. Others, caught amid the recession's job losses, paraded their misfortunes by such antics as wearing body boards stating their situation in large print and marching around conspicuously in the crowded shopping areas as if to say "poor me". Who will come and bail ME out? The late comedian George Carlin had a routine in which he mentioned the plight of the unemployed. His position was that many jobs in America were available if one only looked around. For example, there were always ads for workers at McDonald's and Wal-Mart. And while these were not high paying executive positions, they at least resulted in a pay check!

The presidential election of 2008 was noteworthy not only because the first black president was elected, but his campaign platform was "change". Change what? The way our country thought about the rest of the world and related to it was a prime example. Were we right to invade a Middle Eastern country under the guise of ending totalitarianism and spreading democracy? Were the occupants of that country better off because of our activities? Were WE better off for imposing our will on them? Ask the crippled, demoralized soldiers who came back for their opinion. I just today opened an Email asking me to send a Christmas card to a soldier who was still in Iraq, wishing him good health and a Merry Christmas. The address was included, and I believe I will send a card.

During the past week I have been gathering up my catalogs and searching for the gifts that I will send to family and friends. Email and a credit card make it possible for me to "shop" from my wheelchair. I do miss roaming the stores to see their decorations, watching the little kids sit in Santa's lap to give him their wish lists, and then emerging with candy canes that will approach the unwary as low altitude goo sticks. The parents will be standing restlessly nearby, ready to whisk Johnny and Susie off to the next stop. By now the children are tired, bored, and cranky, and Mom is not much different. The costs of doing a "good Christmas" seem to go up faster than the escalator in the mall. Plus there is the matter of whether Dad will still have a job come the New Year!