3 posts tagged “holidays”
I haven't been feeling the Christmas thing this year. There's a lot of reasons for that but instead of dwelling on how I'm poor (or how several back-ordered gifts were seemingly eaten by the internet, curses) here are a few things that have helped to revive my holiday spirit (sortof). Wee!
This year I'm making my own cards (pictures to come, I guess). They may look like poo but if you asked yourselves, "What's sparkly, bitter, and red all over?" The answer would be me, at least looking like a festive holiday mess.
In a hormone induced fit of I'm-going-to-have-a-happy-Christmas-darn-it-or-else I dropped sixty bucks on card making supplies (see above) and holiday decor. Christian and I can now claim the world's most holiday-tastic entertainment center.
Two nights ago I went bonkers making spiced cider and cookies because cider makes me think of Christmas tree lots from ten years ago and also baking makes me less mean. We had a couple hours of fun and a whole day of angry when it occurred to me that I would have to clean up the sticky mess of holiday joy I had prepared the night before.
I don't think of myself as being so uptight. I mean I ought to just let go and enjoy the friends, family, and fresh pine scent but the winter holidays just make me so tense. And then I found this or rather, Christian got me a copy when four different stores in town told me they'd have it after Christmas, like that makes any sense at all. I swear, the whole world is trying to thwart me this year.
It's Bootsy Collins' Christmas CD. It is a funktastic reminder not to take the holidays so seriously and the music is actually really good. It's stuff I could listen to even if winter didn't demand songs about reindeer and chestnuts (I have never eaten a roasted chestnut. Are they any good?).
So thank you, Bootsy, for giving me some kickin' tunes and also my sense of humor back. Clearly there is more to you than drugs and wacky sunglasses. Bootsy Collins, you're my hero.
There's a strong symbiosis happening between some of our town's less-fortunates and the shops who give them work cleaning windows and making small repairs. Working downtown gave me a chance to get to know some real interesting hard working folks. It's the best part about this job, the part I'll miss most when it's gone.
I felt pretty bad when one of these guys, let's call him John, expressed interest in an item that normally retails at around $40. He wanted to barter and I, being sortof not-at-all in charge, had to say no. So now that the store is closing up (and also considering the time of year) I thought I'd do something nice and give him a gift. I took the item in question off the shelf, bought it at the current much-discounted price, and waited for John to come by. When he did he was walking into the store next door to get warm. He's diabetic, it's freezing here, and the guy has no gloves. I felt like a complete and total turd. Here's this guy just trying to stay warm enough to keep from losing his fingers and I'm all, "Hey I got you a plastic cougar skull! Happy holidays, and woohoo!" I told him I had to clear some backstock, what with the store closing, and he could have it. John gave me a rose and I left feeling like a complete jerk.
So that's the thing. I used to volunteer for a charity that gave clothes and shoes to families who couldn't afford proper school clothes for their kids. That's when I learned that nobody likes to be a charity case...not at all. We teach our kids to do the right thing because it will make them feel good. At least, this is the message I've noticed in a lot of TV programs and cartoons. But there isn't anything to feel nice about when someone's having to choose between canned beans and shoes with soles. So you help someone out but unless they feel like they made a fair trade you're only breeding resentment and when you present a man with a plastic cougar skull when what he really needs are a good pair of gloves what are you saying? What are you saying even when you get it right and give the gloves? It's so easy to develop a savior complex or just look like you've got one. In that case, is anybody really being helped?
I hope my plastic cougar skull said something like, "I appreciate you, I like you, and I hope we don't end up strangers when I don't have to come down here for work." But I'm afraid it didn't come out like that. I'm afraid I silently sent a message about class superiority and want. Something like, "Hello, I am so well-off and oblivious of your needs that I feel like a hero for giving you this plastic made-in-China crap. You should thank me." Of course, I don't feel like a hero. I feel scared that I may have alienated someone who I respect and admire very much. But I'm not sure the message would have been much different even if I handed him some gloves ("I don't need these but you do"). Still, it's not okay to do absolutely nothing, is it? Especially out of fear that I'm as hopelessly awkward as I think I am.
I hope that it's redeeming enough to be awkward but well meaning. Isn't that really the best we can do, to try? I hope so, because if it isn't I goofed.
Hi folks! I'm back. Sortof. I'm only half alive today because our cat, who's been taking torture training classes from ex-KGB agents, decided to try out some of his special new moves last night. So where've I been? I feel like I must tell you (even though I'm boring) so here's a quick break down of the last few weeks...
Thanksgiving with the family. We ate, watched cartoons, and went to bed happy. No tears, jello shots, or fire this year (I kindof missed the fire part).
I fancy myself a bit of an urban explorer but in reality I'm just a bit ocd. If there's a half opened box sitting in the middle of the sidewalk I must look inside. This is how I found someone's mummified and very dead dog. Happy holidays!
The store I work at is closing at the end of this month. I'm applying to a wide range of jobs I probably don't want. From window dresser to English teacher to English teacher in China. It's mid-life-financial-crisis party town (but not really since a creative writing degree is really just proof that I've learned to mooch effectively and also I'm only 24).
Otherwise, I've been playing Puzzle Pirates, eating holiday cookies, stressing Christmas and getting fat. Cause if there's anything I've learned from watching hours of commercials on CourtTV it's that stress makes you fat.
