Posted on 12/27/2013 3:51:32 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
“In what is left of our immediate and extended families, the gift exchanges are basically over, sending cards is about a 50% proposition, and the desire to decorate is nonexistent. It’s as if sometime in the 90’s we all took our foot off the gas and whatever momentum we still had came to a screeching-azz halt with the advent of Obama. It’s only fractionally economic, more of a Carteresque malaise on steroids; if there is a demographic that consists of people who decided that the trappings of the Christmas season were no longer worth it, we’d qualify.”
I hope the spirit is still there; I don’t mind watching the economic buzz slow down. It is a time for family and faith, and has been distorted into a bizarre spending binge. I think the decorations centered around the Nativity are nice; the secular “winterfest” stuff is just weird...
This year, it was very subdued. Many homes that used to go all-out only threw up a few light strands, if that. Speaking for myself, I haven't rigged up outdoor lights for several years now. Just haven't gotten into it like I used to but we still go a little crazy indoors.
Ditto for Christmas shopping. I went to almost all gift cards a few years back because I got sick of relatives (especially the younger ones) asking for receipts so they could take their gifts back and get something else. When I was a kid, I would never think to ask an aunt or uncle to take a Christmas gift back for me. It just seems so crass and ungrateful.
I agree; “subdued” is a good word for it.
I’m not a fan of gift cards (too much like giving cash outright), but they do ensure that the recipient will get something they will really like/use. With kids it is impossible to track what books or games they have (unless you are very involved with them - I don’t mean your own children, but other people’s children).
I couldn’t imagine returning gifts like that, either; I don’t know what the answer is.
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