I have no clue why, but cleaning my fridge this morning made me think of the holidays. What do the two of them have in common? I have NO stinking idea and if you do, please fill me in.
Now as I was thinking about the holidays, it drew me back to last Christmas when we were basically broke, the country was broke, and we were like any other parents; completely frantic about "How" we were going to afford presents for the kids. It was bad... it was real bad.
The kids were "forced" to name only two items they wanted; one from us and one from Santa - that was it! We didn't have the money; we were barely keeping our head above water regarding bills.
I was pissed! Not that we couldn't afford an orgy of presents for the kids, but the fact that cultural conditioning has dictated that you are a LOSER of a parent if you don't! In other words, I am a loser mom if I don't condition my kids to think that Christmas is the time of year to be the biggest asshole of a consumer you can be. Even if you have to knock someone over at a Black Friday sale at WalMart's to do so!
Thank God being poor last Christmas gave me a stinking reality check!
We managed to get the kids exactly the two items each they wanted - how, I have no clue - but we pulled it off. The kids even managed to surprise me with a few gifts of their own which I cherish today - one of which was a new cutting board cause they know how I value a good cutting board in my kitchen. Where they got the money, I have no clue and I didn't ask either.
This year, we plan to do the same as last year - Keep It Freaking Simple!
I no longer am going to be held prisoner by "Madison Avenue" who says I need to spend every last dollar I have, jack up the credit card balances, and beg the doctor for medication to get through the holidays just so corporate thieves and pigs CEO's can sit back and demand lower taxes for themselves while they drain us of every last penny we earn - AND downsize their employees while raising their bonuses because they didn't make their quotas for Christmas!
Let's look at a few growing issues this country has:
▪ China and Russia have decided to renounce the US dollar and resort to using their own currencies for bilateral trade. Dollar bad, dollar real bad now!
▪ Jobless rate jumps to 9.8% and hiring has slowed down.
▪ Federal employees get a 2-year wage freeze while corporations shell out $144 billion in pay and bonuses this year - a 4% increase over last year. BTW, that's your bailout money their giving each other again.
▪ The cost of living has skyrocketed in the past 25 years while minimum wage has only increased 3 times over that period. Which means, if you make minimum wage ($7.25/hour) and working 40 hours a week, you are STILL living in poverty! Hey McDonalds' - you listening???
▪ It's not enough that YOUR money went to bail out more thieves and crooks CEO's in the financial industry of this country, but now YOU are going to bail out Europe as well now!
▪ WalMart is still the only company making money, and still screwing over it's employees as it laughs itself silly to the bank (that you bailed out), and pays more lobbyists so they can assure themselves that you will continue your stampede next year on Black Friday at some God-awful hour of the morning!
▪ No one has any real jobs to offer anyone - this country doesn't make anything anymore.
▪ As of this writing, 2,196,154 homes have been foreclosed on and they have NO idea where to put that freaking Christmas tree or Menorah this year!
But spending GOBS of money
on useless shit
we pretty much don't need is
SO much more important
than these issues - right!
I implore you - no, I'm downright begging you - this year, don't do this. Grandma does NOT need another Chia Pet, and Snuggies are a useless waste of time, energy, and money when you already know how to wear your robe backwards! If you're still cold, get your lazy arss off the sofa and go get a blanket!
This year, we're doing like last year:
2 gifts each,
a bunch of cooking in the sweet department,
and time with friends and family.
I seriously can go on (and you know I can), but I'm gonna leave you with a video I saw last night that just smacked me in the face with a big dose of "WTF are we doing as a society?" I'm sharing it with you because I think you and your family are so much more important than the latest "Potty Putter".
"The Madness of a Lost Society"
Oh, now I think I know why the fridge reminds me of the holidays; all of this stinks unless we collectively decide to actually look at the problem and then start cleaning this mess up instead of leaving up to a lousy maid service (Fed Reserve, Wall Street and a bunch of idiots in Washington who care more about their wallets and jobs than you surviving), to do.
Would you leave an unreliable maid service to clean up after the holidays?
What's the difference?
