[ Golden Gater Online - December 4, 1997 ]
SHOPPING
Natasha Chanetskaia
Don't buy Christmas gifts this year. Just this once find the strength to resist the temptation to run from one store to another, sweating and puffing, buying up bags of stuff your friends and family can be just as happy without.
Christmas shopping is about mind control. The retailers will do anything it takes to convince you to buy. They will lure you with pictures of cute babies in Santa hats, with huge posters of sexy models in shimmery clothes, with bigger-than-life Christmas trees in the malls. They will offer you "unbelievable" sales and "unbeatable prices" so you can buy useless gifts and spend a bunch of money on it. This manipulation is not surprising considering that Christmas shopping is a jaw-dropping $50 billion industry.
They will lay a guilt trip on you if you attempt to disobey, using your own family as their messenger -- stuffing the stocking is a family tradition; it shows how much you really care. Yeah, right!
I have an idea. Spare yourself and your loved ones the agonies of Christmas shopping -- just don't buy anything. It's harder to do then it seems; as soon as you start contemplating the idea, your programmed mind starts negotiating and making deals with you.
"What if you just buy gifts for the most important people, what if you buy very tiny, small gifts," it pleads. "The money is not a problem. It wouldn't really matter if your credit card debt was just a little bit bigger -- you can totally handle it. Just think how happy it will make your loved ones feel."
It's a lie. It's not what you buy that makes someone happy -- it is the attention and love that we, as a society, try substituting with a bunch of mass-produced items dressed in wrapping paper. What to do instead? Try giving the gift of time. The precious present can be just that -- you can for once be really present and attentive to the important people in your life. Whether it means taking your younger sister to that stupid dog show she loves so much, finally helping your parents clean up their garage, or taking a road trip to the middle of nowhere with your sweetheart, the present is sure to be remembered long after it becomes the past.
[ Golden Gater - December 4, 1997 ]