From giving to greed

How can it turn around so quickly? One day we’re buying the line that giving is better than receiving; the next day we’re buying anything we can get our hands on.

How is it that we can talk about how wonderful it is to give to others when we know that just a day later we’ll be spending much, much more on ourselves.

On Christmas Day we celebrate with friends and family and talk about how awful it is that Christmas has been over commercialised, yet 24 hours later we’re lining up at shopping centres ready to send our credit cards into meltdown. It would seem that we’re not so averse to commercialism at this time of year after all, or are we happy to be ‘non-commercialised’ for just one day a year?

Most cities around Australia start their big sales on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. We wait an extra day and that always seems to be a good reason to grumble. Each year we see people on TV talking about how awful it is that they have to wait an extra 24 hours before they max out their credit cards. They think it would be better all around if those who work in the retail industry only had the one day off for Christmas to recover from the extra stress of last minute Christmas shoppers before they face the barrage of post-Christmas shoppers.

In a first this year, the shops in Fremantle were open on Boxing Day so that people could get their shopping fix. Thousands of people flocked to the port city to grab a bargain.

Have we really become that addicted to consumerism that we can’t relax with our families for an extra few hours? Do we really need to fill our homes with extra ‘stuff’ that much and that soon?

I enjoy getting a bargain as much as anyone but I have no real desire to be crammed in next to thousands of other people, all wanting to be served at once. I have enough self-control and patience to wait a week or two until it all calms down.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading From giving to greed? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Over for another year

Christmas has come and gone.

It was a great day, though I’m glad that we were in air conditioning all day. The forecast high temperature in Perth was 39 degrees but it reached a maximum of 40.7 just after 4:00 p.m. (105.26 degrees Fahrenheit). Today the people at the weather bureau say that it’ll get even hotter.

Today is Boxing Day, a wonderful opportunity to lie around on the couch recovering from all the celebrations yesterday. Well, it would be if I wasn’t at work this morning but I do intend getting in some couch time this afternoon.

How was your Christmas Day? Did you have the opportunity to spend time with family and friends? We had a wonderful time having lunch with my side of the family and then dinner with Pauline’s family. I certainly ate a lot of good food but I managed to avoid that – “Oh my goodness I ate too much and now I feel sick” – kind of feeling. I paced myself and enjoyed some scrumptious treats without overdoing it. Mind you, I don’t really feel all that hungry today.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Over for another year? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.