The Gifts That Only Give Once
Tonight I wrapped up another shift at the good ol' Wally World (Wal-Mart); all the Grandmas are perusing the aisles with lists full of items they have no clue about but know their grandchildren want it, desperate housewives (the monogamous kind) are scrounging for the perfect big-screen TV to give to their man to say how large his component cable is, the college friends are trying to find the cheapest, most suggestive gift they could find beyond making a beer bong with automotive parts, and the secular-progressive Canadians are trying to find NAFTA-approved, gender-neutral toys like paintball guns and Bratz dolls to give to their children and short-change their own economy. Regardless of your political or religious affiliation, Christmas does offer something for everyone... HOWEVER, the holiday has united everyone under a different flag than the original one intended when the Catholics ripped off the Pagans.
With the introduction of the capitalist communists (aka the Chinese) with mass labor the Western World is now flooded with cheap toys, electronic gizmos and video games that would make anime fans cringe. Back in my day (the 80s), it was GI Joe, Ninja Turtles, and Nintendo. Now it is Wii, PSXIII, Bratz, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, WWE, Naruto, Bionicle, Xbox360, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, shrimp gumbo, shrimp stew, shrimp and potatoes... that's about it! Granted I own half of that list (even the shrimp gumbo) but there's is something very wrong with Christmas as we know it. While I think it's really cute and fun to help Grandmas go through their lists of presents to get for the grandkids, it almost seems entirely like a procedure rather than a tradition. Relatives get presents for others simply as a matter of Christmas protocol or a means to show off financial status.
During my early years as a young, working individual I have seen the initial releases of Beanie Babies, Pokemon Card, Furbies, Playstation II and III, the Nintendo Wii and the Halo Trilogy. With each of these releases came the massive rush of parents and collectors to attain these items less they be left behind with nothing. These rushes almost ALWAYS ended up with fist fights, usually between two moms over an item made in Taiwan. Now, anyone who has seen a regular fist fight between two males know it consists of hard blows, punches and occasional hits to the male region depending on who is losing; when it comes to two women fighting it consists of biting, pulling hair and otherwise tearing the living crap out of each other till the opponent's beauty parts are entirely destroyed. In other words, cat fights are absolutely, positively, freaky to watch. There's a reason why everything stops when two women start going at it. Like in the movie Undercover Brother, males will begin pulling up chairs, get out the popcorn and start cheering as two women rip each other's clothes off... all for stuffed animals filled with beans with a “Ty” logo attached. I can recall being 14 working at McDonalds when Teenie Beenie Babies first arrived and I had to break up a fight between two moms. Not because I wanted to, but because the manager told to me to “wipe that million dollar grin” off my face and break it up.
I can just imagine the aftermath of whoever won the fight. It's Christmas day and a mom with ripped clothes, a smiling bruised lip and black eye presents the wrapped item to her son, he opens it intently, realized he's been given a stuffed animal and frowns.
“I wanted an Nintendo 64!”
Of course, parents do go crazy to get the newest game system for their children as well. I can recall one year ago when the Playstation III was about to be released. We only had four systems due to a chip shortage but the line started several days before the initial release. The first in line was a mother with an 18-month old. For the next four days this mother and her child waited in the Layaway section of Wal-Mart, munching on stuff they brought in and (I kid you not) took 'showers' in the restrooms. The place wreaked of dirty diapers and body odor during the whole time. Meanwhile, the guys behind her were bored college students that just wanted to play and had planned this as a fun event for months. They complained several times about the stench and the hazard of keeping a child confined in such a space. FINALLY, management contact Child Services and the baby was confiscated... but the woman stayed and still got her Playstation III. Walked in with a baby, left with a Playstation III; fair trade right? It is later reported she sold the system on Ebay for $2000 to a parent who wanted to give it to a kid.
THIS is what Christmas has turned into. The gift of giving has been subsidized for the gift of giving to impress others or simply out of habit instead of love. Parents give their kids expensive, almost lavish gifts that will depreciate in value by almost 50% within the next year, then go to the lounge with their friends and see who spent the most. The winner will be deemed the most in debt and win an almost free consultation with AmeriDebt. Meanwhile, the kid playing the Playstation III in the basement has gotten tired of playing Ratchet and Clank and decided to go back to playing Pokemon Diamond on his Nintendo DS Lite he got the year before. To make matters worse, often times people are so caught up in getting the person this awesome gift they forgot one very small detail; the person asked for something else. This attributes to the long lines in the Customer Service department of any store the day after Christmas.
So what is to be done about this surge in materialistic mayhem that is gift giving? Well, to say stop giving gifts would not only deprive my awesome collection of future editions but side-step the issue entirely. Giving gifts is a great way to show one's affection for another but the trick is to not give in to who can give the best gift. This requires a great deal of mental discipline from the receiver since they help perpetuate this cycle a lot. As a veteran in retail, I understand and have a blast utilizing the almighty power of “Mommy, I want!” Last year myself and a select few of the electronics staff sold over 115 Guitar Hero II bundle units ($79.96) within three weeks in the month of November. To achieve this, we set up a big screen with Guitar Hero II and taught little kids how to play, then encouraged them to get their parents to look at it if not let them try it. The results were obvious.
In a society that deems punishment beyond sitting in the corner as barbaric, discipline is at an all time low and griping and whining is met with a reluctant parent that acquiesces easily. Then the child learns all they have to do to achieve object A is to gripe loud enough and long enough. If you don't believe me, go to your local Wal-Mart (because only pansies shop at Targay!!!), stand in the Toy Department and listen to the children negotiating (screaming) why they deserve the Naruto toys and how they attain it free of charge, compliments of their parents. My department is directly next to Toys and I hear more pouting and screaming from there than I do in say Rob Zombie movies. We actually have come to refer to that area as “The Jungle.”
Despite this lacking discipline and increasing laziness in today's youth and trophy wife/husband/boyfriend/etc world, the real perpetrators are the givers, that acquiesce to the demands of the receivers. This positive reinforcement would not be possible if not for the hand that delivers the cash, check or charge to the cashier. These people are biting the hand that gives them diamonds yet the hand still gives. Be modest in your gift-giving and do it from your heart, where it should be given from... but by all means, don't stop giving; I do have to stay employed after all!
Stay Tuned for Part II: The Anti-Gifts!
With the introduction of the capitalist communists (aka the Chinese) with mass labor the Western World is now flooded with cheap toys, electronic gizmos and video games that would make anime fans cringe. Back in my day (the 80s), it was GI Joe, Ninja Turtles, and Nintendo. Now it is Wii, PSXIII, Bratz, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, WWE, Naruto, Bionicle, Xbox360, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, shrimp gumbo, shrimp stew, shrimp and potatoes... that's about it! Granted I own half of that list (even the shrimp gumbo) but there's is something very wrong with Christmas as we know it. While I think it's really cute and fun to help Grandmas go through their lists of presents to get for the grandkids, it almost seems entirely like a procedure rather than a tradition. Relatives get presents for others simply as a matter of Christmas protocol or a means to show off financial status.
During my early years as a young, working individual I have seen the initial releases of Beanie Babies, Pokemon Card, Furbies, Playstation II and III, the Nintendo Wii and the Halo Trilogy. With each of these releases came the massive rush of parents and collectors to attain these items less they be left behind with nothing. These rushes almost ALWAYS ended up with fist fights, usually between two moms over an item made in Taiwan. Now, anyone who has seen a regular fist fight between two males know it consists of hard blows, punches and occasional hits to the male region depending on who is losing; when it comes to two women fighting it consists of biting, pulling hair and otherwise tearing the living crap out of each other till the opponent's beauty parts are entirely destroyed. In other words, cat fights are absolutely, positively, freaky to watch. There's a reason why everything stops when two women start going at it. Like in the movie Undercover Brother, males will begin pulling up chairs, get out the popcorn and start cheering as two women rip each other's clothes off... all for stuffed animals filled with beans with a “Ty” logo attached. I can recall being 14 working at McDonalds when Teenie Beenie Babies first arrived and I had to break up a fight between two moms. Not because I wanted to, but because the manager told to me to “wipe that million dollar grin” off my face and break it up.
I can just imagine the aftermath of whoever won the fight. It's Christmas day and a mom with ripped clothes, a smiling bruised lip and black eye presents the wrapped item to her son, he opens it intently, realized he's been given a stuffed animal and frowns.
“I wanted an Nintendo 64!”
Of course, parents do go crazy to get the newest game system for their children as well. I can recall one year ago when the Playstation III was about to be released. We only had four systems due to a chip shortage but the line started several days before the initial release. The first in line was a mother with an 18-month old. For the next four days this mother and her child waited in the Layaway section of Wal-Mart, munching on stuff they brought in and (I kid you not) took 'showers' in the restrooms. The place wreaked of dirty diapers and body odor during the whole time. Meanwhile, the guys behind her were bored college students that just wanted to play and had planned this as a fun event for months. They complained several times about the stench and the hazard of keeping a child confined in such a space. FINALLY, management contact Child Services and the baby was confiscated... but the woman stayed and still got her Playstation III. Walked in with a baby, left with a Playstation III; fair trade right? It is later reported she sold the system on Ebay for $2000 to a parent who wanted to give it to a kid.
THIS is what Christmas has turned into. The gift of giving has been subsidized for the gift of giving to impress others or simply out of habit instead of love. Parents give their kids expensive, almost lavish gifts that will depreciate in value by almost 50% within the next year, then go to the lounge with their friends and see who spent the most. The winner will be deemed the most in debt and win an almost free consultation with AmeriDebt. Meanwhile, the kid playing the Playstation III in the basement has gotten tired of playing Ratchet and Clank and decided to go back to playing Pokemon Diamond on his Nintendo DS Lite he got the year before. To make matters worse, often times people are so caught up in getting the person this awesome gift they forgot one very small detail; the person asked for something else. This attributes to the long lines in the Customer Service department of any store the day after Christmas.
So what is to be done about this surge in materialistic mayhem that is gift giving? Well, to say stop giving gifts would not only deprive my awesome collection of future editions but side-step the issue entirely. Giving gifts is a great way to show one's affection for another but the trick is to not give in to who can give the best gift. This requires a great deal of mental discipline from the receiver since they help perpetuate this cycle a lot. As a veteran in retail, I understand and have a blast utilizing the almighty power of “Mommy, I want!” Last year myself and a select few of the electronics staff sold over 115 Guitar Hero II bundle units ($79.96) within three weeks in the month of November. To achieve this, we set up a big screen with Guitar Hero II and taught little kids how to play, then encouraged them to get their parents to look at it if not let them try it. The results were obvious.
In a society that deems punishment beyond sitting in the corner as barbaric, discipline is at an all time low and griping and whining is met with a reluctant parent that acquiesces easily. Then the child learns all they have to do to achieve object A is to gripe loud enough and long enough. If you don't believe me, go to your local Wal-Mart (because only pansies shop at Targay!!!), stand in the Toy Department and listen to the children negotiating (screaming) why they deserve the Naruto toys and how they attain it free of charge, compliments of their parents. My department is directly next to Toys and I hear more pouting and screaming from there than I do in say Rob Zombie movies. We actually have come to refer to that area as “The Jungle.”
Despite this lacking discipline and increasing laziness in today's youth and trophy wife/husband/boyfriend/etc world, the real perpetrators are the givers, that acquiesce to the demands of the receivers. This positive reinforcement would not be possible if not for the hand that delivers the cash, check or charge to the cashier. These people are biting the hand that gives them diamonds yet the hand still gives. Be modest in your gift-giving and do it from your heart, where it should be given from... but by all means, don't stop giving; I do have to stay employed after all!
Stay Tuned for Part II: The Anti-Gifts!