The Turkey and the last straw.

Oh, Thanksgiving, I knew thee well. On the front side is the ever increasing recovery time from the over-hyped and over-worked orgy known as Halloween. On the back side is a fat man in a red suit sticking his belly further and further in your front door.

Well, the fat man has finally pushed his way into the house. There he is. He will not be ignored. The Holiday Shopping Season is in the turkey’s house.

I could fake surprise. It would be a weak ruse to what seems to be the inevitable.

So while I can’t fake surprise, I do not want it to be inevitable. I want to fight back. To just say enough is enough.

I usually try to influence these things by the choices I have power over. The problem is I already made the choice long ago not to support the Holiday Shopping Season. I don’t have another vote. Now I know you have a vote and certainly hope you join me.

But it’s going to take a larger societal shift to turn this into something else. Yes, we are a consumer society. What have we become when even our government advocates consumer spending in the Holiday Shopping Season to save our economy over and over again? We have become shallow. I know, it’s a hard truth for us to swallow.

I was at Home Depot on October 18^th and they had holiday decorations out and holiday music playing. Now I don’t go to malls and such but if this is any indication of what happens there, I am just horrified at the state of affairs. Giving benefit of doubt and presume that the real Holiday Shopping Season starts right after Halloween that means that sixteen percent of each year is spent focused on the spending frenzy of the Holiday Shopping Season. Yikes!

Do people even know why they are buying, buying, buying anymore? I don’t think so.

I know this isn’t a news flash.  Hell, Charlie Brown and Linus lamented this back in 1965. They had no idea, did they?

So how do we stop this frenzy? I’m going back to my old standby. Change the world one choice, one interaction at a time.

First: Just say no. Do not join the mobbed-up frenzy. A little commitment and discipline. Just do it.

Second: Tell people not to buy you anything. This is hard. People think they’re expressing some emotion for you when they buy you stuff. But nobody needs more stuff. If they really need to buy and give, tell them to give it to charity.

Third: Say no to buying stuff throughout the year. Make it a habit. Make it you. Lead by example.

Holiday Shopping Season. You shall not pass!