Monday Musings...
Another start to another week, getting ever closer to CHRISTMAS...only eleven shopping days to go.
Presents to buy, cards to send (people still DO that kind of thing?), dinners to plan, and, if you're like us, a tree to put up and decorate.
Most all of the "other" seasonal bric-a-brac has been placed about the house, and the blue-bulbed electric candles have all been put in the windows (doing the multi-light strings that blink in our windows has become a bit too much...besides, there's NO one really down in our neck of the "hood" that I want to "impress", anyway).
In our house, the tree was ALWAYS the last item to go up. The train set and platform were up a week before Dad would make his yearly trek to the local tree distributor (hopefully within walking distance - we didn't have a car...we just had one another in those days), and come back with a nice one. Sometimes, he'd spot a nice tree and "reserve" it by paying half the price, and then come back to get my wagon to pay the balance, and haul it on home. Parents were ever the resourceful people then. And I didn't mind my wagon being used to that...it was a large wagon, after all, unlike the crappy, teeny ones you see today. It looked more like a garden hauler with a thyroid condition. It had wooden side rails that could be removed. In fact, the entire wagon bed was wooden...none of that metal or plastic junk for us, no sir. And it had REAL rubber tires.
Too many good times in that wagon...
There were a few years that we didn't know if we'd even get a tree...things were a bit "tight".
As I got older, Mom opted for one of those all silver "tinfoil" trees, as I used to call 'em, complete with a spinning COLOR WHEEL to change the hue of the tree. Well, it WAS the 1960s, you see. At least the damn things WERE fireproof!
After that, and until Dad's passing, we got one of those "build-a-trees" that at least LOOKED a lot more realistic.
And today, decades after my parents' passing, my wife and I still have a K-Mart brand build-a-tree.
We got it about 13 years ago for like $20.
And we have to PUT lights on it ourselves...LOL.
(none of that pre-lit LED stuff...not yet anyway)
After we decorate it up, it still looks damn nice.
Now Christmas is one of those times of year that TRADITIONS are either made...or carried on.
Many times, it becomes an evolutionary project.
We may keep a part of traditions we grew up with, while adding our own personal "flare" to those traditions.
We build upon the past, while not forgetting it, in order to secure a permanence in the present we can take into our future.
Sounds a bit profound, but that's pretty much what every one of us does this time of year, believe it or not.
When you stop and think about it, that's EXACTLY what all of us do.
And with good reason.
We remember those great times as kids, and we don't ever want to lose that part of us that enjoyed the season. We remember the wide-eyed innocence we had and the wonder accompanying it. We recall with fondness the closeness we held with our families.
We know this isn't always possible during the rest of the year, but we can be forgiven this indulgence NOW...at Christmas.
So many times in my personal past, Christmas wasn't all about TOYS (although they didn't hurt one damn bit), but those toys were just an amendment to the entire Christmas experience. It was about being TOGETHER...as a family.
Today, I can relate to those that have lost loved ones...I've joined that club decades ago myself.
And with each passing year, it seems like the "club" gets larger, as our circle of friends and family diminishes.
That can play hell with you...if you allow it to.
What we need to realize is that all those good memories are there not just to remember. They are there to learn from. They are there to guide each of us as we create ever new memories each year. And we are charged to pass this on to those who would most benefit from it.
This is a case where being selfish with such things is NOT nearly as good a thing as sharing them.
If you notice, it's this time of year when the greatest outpouring of charity happens.
Many times, we see evidence of people's love for their fellow men and women...and it culminates at the end of the year...as this holiday season finds us. Granted, you still find the obnoxious person in the parking lot, or in the store aisles, or at the checkout lines, but these are the ones who haven't grasped that part of their past....the part WE do embrace.
Lord knows I have MY share of such people passing by my life (and my house)...and I truly pity them.
These are the ones that no one can seem to reach out to.Sadly, they will have to find their way in their own time and manner.
All we can do is live in the best spirit OF this season, and promote it whenever possible.
*** In other happenings...
Another robbery at another "dollar store" in Fort Wayne. This time it was the DOLLAR GENERAL store along Maplecrest Ave. I guess all the FAMILY DOLLAR stores are tapped out?
Again, we had a duo perform the robbery, which occurred around 2100 hrs last evening.
My guess would be that the bank deposit drop was targeted (register closings and safe opened - makes sense).
Having worked in Loss Prevention (LP) for a "big box" outfit once, allows me a certain perspective on this type of crime.
These punk-ass thieves are looking for the quick cash score...nothing else.
And with a minimal staff on site (who won't really want to fight back), it becomes a no-brainer, especially for those workers making damn near minimum wage to be able to pay their bills, instead of sitting on their asses and living off the "gub'ment", and waiting for "denexcheck".
Unfortunately, not every store has security cams.
With the technology available today, you don't even need those large ceiling bubbles to place cameras in stores.
If I were running the LP department for these dollar stores, I'd be covering the doors, registers, safe and checkout area...and I'd be placing panic switches there as well.
But you have to realize these stores are not "on par" with someone like WAL-MART...they don't have the operating capital that a major player does, ergo they don't have the resources to fund an LP division to the level that say BEST BUYS or SEARS would.
Some would argue that the items sold aren't all that "top shelf", but I would argue that "shrink IS shrink", no matter what you sell. And MONEY will ALWAYS be...MONEY.
When you stop and think that anything removed from a store without payment costs EVERYONE some money in the long run.
"Shrink" as we used to call it (theft) is one thing in this economy that IS on the upswing.
We're talking about a $46 BILLION dollar cost to every single one of us in the USA.
THAT is how MUCH was lost last year.
Here's a related article in today's local paper:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20091214/BIZ/312149951/1031/BIZ
We're seeing more crime "rings" involved, and they're stocking up with lists of items they've written (and obviously checked twice).
Many will point fingers at the economy, but this is also a SEASONAL thing.
A few times in my LP "career", I've had to butt heads with superiors on PROPER placement of cameras and other security devices, as "they" always had a "blueprint" for how a store was to be set up. And they were usually wrong (except if they lived in a perfect world).
This "bean-counter" mentality allows for a certain percentage of shrink in stores (usually UNDER 5% of total operating costs per store), but when you open in specific markets, that number will rise, and often dramatically.
So, you have to adapt, or take in loses so severe, that "corporate" will determine that this store is not a money-maker, and will close it up, costing economic viability in the area, as well as increasing the jobless rate.
See, the retail business isn't all about stocking shelves, and selling sh*t...it's a LOT more than that.
A WHOLE lot more.
Perhaps some store manager will be the one who shoots these robbers dead.
That would save a ton of money, both in the local economy, as well as in the judicial system.
We ALL win on that front. And the perps get a free (final) ride to the cemetery in a nice Cadillac or Lincoln (hearse).
Everyone makes out on that scenario, right?
Yeah, something like THIS is not the "tradition" we have in mind when we think about this time of year, is it?
But, it is a fact of life for US, and a way of life for such thuggery-imbued creatures like these.
We have OUR traditions...and they have THEIRS.
Sad to see people take from others to selfishly endow themselves with something for nothing.
It's not what we should think of when we think about CHRISTMAS...or AMERICA.
We should be focusing on our past, promoting it in the present, in order to secure our future.
That seems to make a LOT more sense to me...how about you?
Do well for someone today...make a difference somewhere, and...
Stay safe out there, America.
((~Tomorrow - think about YOUR favorite things for the holiday season~))