We enter the post-Christmas, post-mortem and expect you all had a great time with family and friends, or simply had some quiet with comfortable reflections.
Some of you attended church as per custom, which brings out the old adage that you don't really have to attend church to practise your Christianty. After all, going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
Or that other old prop I steal from John Andrist, who also stole it from somebody ... regarding your hospitality skills. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish they were.
It was kinda fun visiting the wonderful local retail outlets as the shopping got a more intense, the lineups were longer, but this time, nobody seemed to mind.
There was more chatter going on, there were more smiles, goodwill handshakes, so the magic of Christmas continues. It has changed directions and parameters over the decades, but as long as the spirit of the season is adhered to, I'll take it in whatever form it is presented.
I mean when you see the guy with two-day old scraggly beard, and torn sweat pants and Velcro sneakers making his way up the aisle with a shopping cart filled with something or other and a kid or two in tow, led by a harried spouse whose sense of urgency is obviously much greater than his, maybe, just maybe, you get a sense that the Christmas magic has faded ... but then not really. They're together, they're doing something with a common purpose with hopes of bringing something nice, including smiles, to the lives of others. They're doing the right thing as long as they retain their sense of humour about the whole thing.
Boxing Day madness is another situation. This is the retailers' harvest as well as their nightmare. We don't need any government with stimulus spending bills on Boxing Day. We're quite happy to go deeper in debt. If you want to call it patriotism, go ahead. I call it silliness, but then I'm not a shopaholic. I set out to observe, not participate. That might go back to my days as a sports reporter.
I generally won't show up on time for shopping excursions, mainly because I'm not that interested in the process. Some shopping can be interesting, but generally not. My rule of thumb is that if I don't spot what I need or desire within the first 43 seconds, I'm done and out. I fold like the drunk who is playing poker with the Mississippi gambler.
I'll show up late because I obviously have something more interesting to do, other than shopping ... like a root canal or a tax form to fill out or the need to watch Jersey Shore. Anything else, make an offer.
Oh certainly there are times I enjoy the experience. I sometimes tag along when the bride goes into full retail therapy sessions. I get to marvel at her expertise in assessment, price comparisons, evaluation and selection while I wander around wondering what the name of the song is that's on the store's intercom system. When it comes to shopping, she's the pro and I'm the happy amateur who has no desire to advance to the major leagues. Oblivion is good for me when it comes to shopping.
So if you didn't see me in the lineups on Boxing Day, that's the reason. I suck at tension shopping. I like to wander off course, maybe visit a bit and if something shiny catches my eye ... well, you never know.
But I still hope you had a great time doing post-Christmas shopping while the rest of us cleaned up that turkey.
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