Maybe No Gift is the Best Gift
December 3rd 2009 19:24
I've been doing a lot of soul searching about Christmas this year. I've become fairly well disgusted with the commercialism of the season. I've been disgusted with it for years, but so much more this year.
I recently started working at Wal-Mart as a cashier. I got my first real taste of "Black Friday," and it really made me sick. I have to admit, I've shopped on the day after Thanksgiving before. I don't remember ever getting to a store as early as 5:00 a.m., and I KNOW I've never camped out in a parking lot for a good place in line!
People, let me tell you something ----- there is no gift you can buy that is worth putting yourself through that!
If you've never experienced the 5:00 a.m. rush for spending money, let me describe it for you. I was scheduled to arrive at work at 5:00 a.m. Most days, I arrive about 10 minutes before my shift, leaving ample time to park, walk to the back of the store to clock in, walk back to the front and be logged in on my register by the time my shift is scheduled to start. It didn't work that way last Friday. Oh, I arrived 10 minutes before I was scheduled to begin work, but there was NO WHERE to park. The lot was full, as well as the lots of the businesses surrounding the store where I work. I lucked out - someone pulled out of a space in the employee parking area just as I was about to give up on making it to work on time. I'd have had to walk a mile from any parking space available. I zipped into that recently vacated spot, locked the doors, and walked quickly into the store.
There were people EVERYWHERE! All waiting, not so patiently, for the clock to tick to 5:00 so they could grab all those wonderfully discounted items. I practically had to climb over people to get to the back of the store to clock in. I JUST made it, clocking in at 5:00 on the dot. Then, I had to wade back through the throng to get to a register at the front. By this time, they'd been let loose to fight over the limited supply of sale priced items. I finally managed to get to the front of the store and logged onto a register (the only one not already open). The lines were the longest I've ever seen - already - at just after 5:00. It took until after 7:30 to get the lines to normal - only two or three customers in each (of course, this was with all 32 registers open).
I'm sure my register, alone, did over $10,000 in sales in that 2-1/2 hours. I don't have a clue how much we did for the day, or how much all the Wal-Marts together did, but it was A LOT!
My question is WHY? Why do we think we have to go out and spend all this money for Christmas? I know, I blog about gifts and gift-giving (year-round) but this is ridiculous. No gift is worth the hassle of putting up with Black Friday shopping. And, to be honest, Christmas (and other so called 'gift-giving' occasions) aren't supposed to be about the gifts (or spending so much money!) It's all become way to commercialized.
We don't need greeting cards for every holiday (even Halloween!) And we don't need to spend vast amounts of money on everyone we know for birthdays and holidays. What's the purpose? Why do we feel the need to do this.
Holidays should be about spending time with our families, not about going (further) into debt.
Christmas, specifically, is supposed to be about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. We don't have to spend money on everyone, or on elaborate decorations, in order to celebrate His birth. The only gift anyone needs at Christmas is the gift we can't buy. It's the gift given us by Jesus - Salvation.
So, I think maybe no gift at all is better than all the gifts money can buy. I've already been given the only CHRISTMAS gift I need, the one given me by CHRIST. Try sharing THAT gift with everyone you know. It doesn't cost a thing, and it's the only gift that counts.
I recently started working at Wal-Mart as a cashier. I got my first real taste of "Black Friday," and it really made me sick. I have to admit, I've shopped on the day after Thanksgiving before. I don't remember ever getting to a store as early as 5:00 a.m., and I KNOW I've never camped out in a parking lot for a good place in line!
People, let me tell you something ----- there is no gift you can buy that is worth putting yourself through that!
If you've never experienced the 5:00 a.m. rush for spending money, let me describe it for you. I was scheduled to arrive at work at 5:00 a.m. Most days, I arrive about 10 minutes before my shift, leaving ample time to park, walk to the back of the store to clock in, walk back to the front and be logged in on my register by the time my shift is scheduled to start. It didn't work that way last Friday. Oh, I arrived 10 minutes before I was scheduled to begin work, but there was NO WHERE to park. The lot was full, as well as the lots of the businesses surrounding the store where I work. I lucked out - someone pulled out of a space in the employee parking area just as I was about to give up on making it to work on time. I'd have had to walk a mile from any parking space available. I zipped into that recently vacated spot, locked the doors, and walked quickly into the store.
There were people EVERYWHERE! All waiting, not so patiently, for the clock to tick to 5:00 so they could grab all those wonderfully discounted items. I practically had to climb over people to get to the back of the store to clock in. I JUST made it, clocking in at 5:00 on the dot. Then, I had to wade back through the throng to get to a register at the front. By this time, they'd been let loose to fight over the limited supply of sale priced items. I finally managed to get to the front of the store and logged onto a register (the only one not already open). The lines were the longest I've ever seen - already - at just after 5:00. It took until after 7:30 to get the lines to normal - only two or three customers in each (of course, this was with all 32 registers open).
I'm sure my register, alone, did over $10,000 in sales in that 2-1/2 hours. I don't have a clue how much we did for the day, or how much all the Wal-Marts together did, but it was A LOT!
My question is WHY? Why do we think we have to go out and spend all this money for Christmas? I know, I blog about gifts and gift-giving (year-round) but this is ridiculous. No gift is worth the hassle of putting up with Black Friday shopping. And, to be honest, Christmas (and other so called 'gift-giving' occasions) aren't supposed to be about the gifts (or spending so much money!) It's all become way to commercialized.
We don't need greeting cards for every holiday (even Halloween!) And we don't need to spend vast amounts of money on everyone we know for birthdays and holidays. What's the purpose? Why do we feel the need to do this.
Holidays should be about spending time with our families, not about going (further) into debt.
Christmas, specifically, is supposed to be about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. We don't have to spend money on everyone, or on elaborate decorations, in order to celebrate His birth. The only gift anyone needs at Christmas is the gift we can't buy. It's the gift given us by Jesus - Salvation.
So, I think maybe no gift at all is better than all the gifts money can buy. I've already been given the only CHRISTMAS gift I need, the one given me by CHRIST. Try sharing THAT gift with everyone you know. It doesn't cost a thing, and it's the only gift that counts.
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DeAnne
