It's the thought

  Now that Thanksgiving has passed it is time to think about Christmas. I try to resist Christmas beforehand but that is proving increasingly impossible. Go to Walmart in July and some reminder of Christmas will surely be there. Still, I try to cling to tradition as best I can. The last battle is when the tree makes its' appearance. My daughter in law, my granddaughter and granddaughter in law all have their trees up, decorated and ho-ho-hoing! When it becomes December, I may begin to decorate a bit, but that tree will not be around until mid-month. I plan on getting a live tree and want the needles on it Christmas morning! For some years I did go with a small artificial tree but even then, not too early.

  Today is Black Friday! That's a term that has come into use and immediately everyone thinks of shopping and getting the deal. Black Friday was originally the Friday the stock market crashed on September 24, 1869. Two financiers conspired to buy up all the gold in the country in an effort to raise the prices. The conspiracy was discovered, and the price of gold plunged causing financial markets to crash. Today most of us believe that Black Friday is called that because it is when businesses go into the "black" with their accounting. The day of deals! Well except like everything else that has been extended. Walmart, for example, has been having black Friday sales for the last two weeks. Then they added cyber-Monday so you could get the deal without leaving home. The reality is you can get the deal at any time and all this black Friday stuff is now more of a fad or tradition that anything else. I expect it will fade away at some point. It will be something talked about by the old people. This old person remembers when parents were physically assaulting each other over Cabbage Patch dolls! That was in 1983 and some say it helped create this black Friday craze. 

  Beyond all of the shopping, the excess of gift giving, and all the stress that goes with that, we now have to be more socially aware so as not to offend. I haven't forgotten when it was ruled that the Nativity scene or any suggestion of that was prohibited on public properties. The last vestige of any of that remains on our money, "In God we Trust" and there are those attempting to get that removed. That phrase, that declaration is offensive to some just not so offensive that they are giving up on money! No burning that or throwing it on the ground and stomping on that! It's not that offensive. I expect it will be removed one day however as we become more inclusive and progressive. Ideally there will be no actual bills or coins, the government will control all of that through your bank account, ensuring every penny is accounted for, taxes paid, and charity given. It won't matter if you want to give to charity or not, you will. Truth is, you already are.

  But I have begun to think about Christmas. I was thinking about mailing Christmas cards. I discovered it now costs sixty-six cents for a stamp. That is for a one ounce card and I've found many are over that. If you pick one out with any little ribbons or bows or other decorations it will cost extra. Each additional ounce or portion thereof will cost you another twenty cents. Not only does it need to weigh one ounce or less it can't be thicker than 1/4 inch. That's so it can go through the machine, costs extra to have a postal worker handle that. The average postal worker only makes $18.75 an hour. Surely, we can't expect them to handle the mail. 

  I did check on something though. Postcards. You don't hear about people sending postcards much. I can't remember the last time I sent or received one. I see them around, mostly in truck stops it seems, more as a souvenir item than a means of communication. People used to write short messages on them in the past. It didn't matter if anyone else read that message or not. One of my prized possessions is a postcard that my grandmother sent to her father. She was asking when he was coming home. I'm thinking maybe I could send Christmas postcards! Hey, the price to mail a postcard is fifty-one cents. I could save fifteen cents a card. Save three dollars if I mail twenty. Doesn't seem like much but I could start a new tradition, the Christmas postcard! I did check and they are available online or you can print your own. I say I'm being thrifty. Thift is a good thing right? My wife says, I'm cheap. I also say it's the thought that counts. I'm letting you all know right now; I'm thinking about you. Let the festivities begin, in December.