Hostile Holiday

November 28, 2011 at 9:55 pm | No Comments »

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Buy, buy, buy. Spend, spend, spend. And so begins the most depressing time of the year.

Working holiday retail while in college permanently soured me on the so-called season of joy. But my hostility to the frenzy of consumer debt gets worse every year.

I went out of my way not to spend any money beyond typical expenditures this past weekend. The only out-of-the-ordinary purchase (non-food) was an ebook for a new book club effort. Even so, I didn’t really spend money since my iTunes account still had a rebate credit from September’s iMac purchase. Take that crafty retailers and your not-so-unwitting cheerleading stooges in the media.

I’ve also decided that I’m not attending any holiday parties this year. I know, tragic, given my bubbly outlook. Don’t feel like putting on a happy face.

We’ll celebrate our 24th anniversary on December 10 but that’s it for festivities. (Nice trick for a pair of 29 year olds.)

The real irony is that I’m generally quite happy the remaining 10.5 months of the year. Contentedly married. (See above.) Extra comfortable house. Two nice vehicles. Travel several times per year. Plenty to eat, drink and otherwise imbibe. Etc. Life’s good.

It’s just that for the next six weeks or so, I refuse to join in the national greed orgy. Not going into debt. Not buying tons of crap no one needs. Not spreading false cheer. How positively un-American.

Talk to me again on January 2.

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