Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts

Well here we go into the "Holiday" season. It doesn't officially start until Thanksgiving although I think they should go ahead and give the nod to Halloween. After all around the beginning of October is when I see the first signs of Christmas anyway, so why not just usher in the Holiday season with the beginning of Fall.

I'm against putting up decorations for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I surely do love the Christmas music. It's on a station where I live 24 hours a day. I drive my coworkers and family nuts with it. It's just very uplifting for me to listen to Perry Como or Bing Crosby singing Christmas songs. :)

I've mentioned in the past that I work as a safety manager. Well I get these little tidbits of information from time to time from different "safety" sources. News clips or changes in regulations. Anyway, I saw one the other day that was talking about the proper training for employees to avoid injuries during big crowd events ie. Black Friday. This all came about because some poor soul was trampled to death last year at a Walmart during Black Friday. I'm just curious how they plan to train all these people in what to look for and how to avoid this kind of mess in less than a week (the regulation came out last friday). It took them over a year from the time this poor guy died to come up with a plan. Ah well if that isn't a good sign of our government at work, I don't know what is.

So I have been browsing the websites looking for the good deals that are supposed to be happening this weekend. I have to say I'm not all that impressed with it. We are supposedly recovering from this economic crisis. I would think they would do a bit more to get people into the store instead of offering the same stale, tired sales that they have been offering for the last month (with an extra 3-5% off).

BUT in the true spirit of the season, I have to share a little enounter I had with a "kid"(he was about 17). I was in line at the local Mcdonalds, well not local, but since I travel a good bit, I consider them pretty local. So I'm waiting in line and it's a pretty healthy line, I'd say there were at least 15 people in front of me and a good 10 behind. The line was moving along at a snails pace. Right behind me was this young man and behind him was this older woman (I'd guess late 70's). She was a little stooped and was chatting with everybody around here. Very outgoing and pleasant. She was talking to a bunch of younger kids behind her and they were all having a good laugh which sorta surprised me because usually kids don't have time for the elderly in my experience.

I came to find out that she had recently lost her husband and oldest son in a car accident (same accident). Well that just shot my mood to yucky in about one second. She told us not to be upset because she had faith that they were in a better place. She went on to tell us about her husband and son. By now the younger kids weren't listening anymore, but me and this guy behind me sure were. She told us how her son was a coach for little league and her husband used to go help him up until only a couple of years ago. I guess that her husband had some health issues that kept him from doing all the things he had enjoyed earlier in life. She wasn't specific and I didn't ask.

We were up to the front of the line and I asked her if I could buy her lunch for her. She accepted, but before I could get her order the boy behind me asked if I would please allow him to. I was a little shocked, but said sure. He placed his order for her and him ahead of me, and then explained to both of us that her son was his little league coach. The boy didn't remember her husband but said that her son was a great coach and always thought of the kids first. This boy was getting ready to get out of high school he said, and wanted to be a teacher because he wanted to be able to help kids like "Coach" did. Well I was getting a little emotional as I placed my order. I got my stuff and was walking away. The old woman was hugging the boy and told him that he gave her the best Christmas present she could ask for.

It's funny how these things can happen. I got to thinking about it afterwards. It's defintely a small town and the chances of running into each other are pretty good. I'm just glad I got to witness it and be involved in the conversation. I coached for about 17 years and I loved every minute of it (well maybe not every minute of it). It's a reward to see the kids learn something new and watch their eyes light up when they realize they got it right. I can only hope that one day I'll have a kid come up to me and say I had that kind of impact in his life. We think about doing that with our own children, but just remember others are watching. We are role models whether we want to be or not. I'm sure glad that lady got her Christmas present early :)

I was asked recently which I prefer Thanksgiving or Christmas. My immediate thought was CHRISTMAS!!!! You get gifts and a couple days off, everybody gets together from out of town. I get to see relatives I haven't seen in a year and it's just a big sense of family. Well at least with our family that is how Christmas is.

Then I stopped and thought about it a little bit closer. Thanksgiving is a freebie Holiday. There are no expectations. You don't have to find a ultra cool gift for that 8 year old you only see once a year. You don't have to deplete your bank account for the gift that mom and dad only put out if they think you will see it.(They already have just about anything they want.) Around here we get Thursday and Friday off, so that makes for a great 4 day weekend. Top it off with FOOTBALL!!!!

The only drain on me for Thanksgiving is possibly my house is a little messy and I over eat (like that doesn't happen on every thursday). I get to go play football in the front yard with my cousins and the neighborhood kids, and we get to relive a little slice of our youth. Yeah you know back when knees worked and backs didn't hurt and don't forget that nagging pain in the shoulder. Of course the downside to all of that is Friday, but hey it's a day off so I can recover on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday if need be.

On Christmas I have to spend more money in one month than I make in 5. I am generally wrong on at least half of the presents I buy for family and friends (guess I'm not a good judge of what other people like). I still have to clean up the house after it's all over. The difference being on Chrstmas I have to clean up gift wrap as well as dishes.

So I changed my answer and told my friend that I prefer Thanksgiving over Christmas. I then proceeded to explain the pros and cons as I saw them. It took my buddy about 5 minutes to think through everything I said before his response.

He told me that I had it all wrong. Christmas isn't about presents. He explained to me what Christmas is truly about (like I didn't grow up in a Catholic house). I let him ramble on for about 20 minutes before I stopped him and asked how much money he spent on Christmas even though it's not about the presents. He has 3 children ranging in age from 4-10. Well he wouldn't tell me, but told me that it was over $1000. WOW!!!! Little kid presents shouldn't cost that much first of all.

So we argued the merits of his statements about Christmas compared to mine. The argument got a bit heated and I guess we raised our voices a little bit more than we realized. A gal (sorry I still use the word gal) who works at the office popped her head in the door and told us we were foolish. We were told that regardless of all of that Memorial Day was the best holiday. She then explained the whole 3 day weekend thing, how everything is on sale. You have good weather (here it's good weather in may) to go and do something as a family or with that special someone. Pretty soon, there was another head popped in the door, offering another Holiday. The argument faded into a laughing debate about Holidays and Birthdays and if your birthday should be considered a Holiday. We finally got the withering stare from the boss which was a signal to get our keesters back to the daily grind of well whatever we were doing at the time.

So now I'm faced with a dilema. Which is the best Holiday? So offer up your choice and give me a reason why you think it ranks as the best. I need some heavy ammunition for Monday when I get back that way and can finish this debate.

I refuse to let "them" take away my Halloween fun. There are people in the world that refuse to have fun. They figure if it's fun there must be something inherently wrong with it. I don't follow the original idea of Halloween as some profess it to be. Halloweeen for us was always about getting a chance to dress up and get some free candy. Now if you are a 7 yr old kid that is a pretty cool thing indeed.

We generally like to decorate the house to a great degree. There are tombstones in the front yard, and one of those creepy ghouls in a locked cage, bats, and pumpkins. We have colored lights and a fog machine. We love it....I dress up and sit out on the bench in the front yard with a bowl of candy next to me. If a small kid comes up I don't move. I let them think I'm a fake. BUT...when the 13 and older crowd comes knockin well then they are just on their own. If you are a teenager and come looking to trick or treat at my house, then I'm planning on at least attempting to scare you. I wait until the drop down spider startles them, then when they get over that and go for the candy that's when i pounce. Nothing gives me quite so much Halloween joy as to watch a big tough teenager run flat out as fast as they can back to the safety of the curb.

Now for those people that see evil in this, I'm sorry for you. There is nothing wrong with people dressing up and walking around to get a treat from the neighbors. It also promotes good community welfare. We get to know some of our neighbors from a couple blocks away. When parents walk with the kids, we tend to strike up conversations with them, and get to know the people that live around us a little bit better.

So to clarify...first of all I'm not Celtic..I don't celebrate this as the day when the worlds of the living and the dead or "blurred". I don't slaughter kittens, or goats and drink the blood. I don't put razorblades in apples, and I don't butcher people with a machete and a mask. I think people need to take a breath and get out there with their kids, or grandkids, or nieces and nephews. Walk around and get to know your neighbors again. If you don't have any kids to go trick or treating with, then get a bunch of candy and meet the kids and parents as they come walking through the neighborhood looking for that sugar fix. Let's not pretend that this is really some nationally celebrated satanic ritual. This is one tradition that we need to keep going. So get those jack-O-Laterns carved and put them on the porch. Put up an old sheet with some eyes cut out ( you don't have to buy your stuff at the store ready to go, make your own). Have somebody flicking the lights on and off. Just relax and enjoy Halloween for what it is in our part of the world. Simply a reason for kids to get out and cut loose and have a good time. AT NOBODY'S EXPENSE.

Have fun everybody and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Wow!! I am completely baffled by this nonsense I'm reading in the newspaper and on the web. People are protesting this Halloween costume depicting a space alien in an orange jumpsuit with a green card. Are you serious????

Has anybody seen the movie Men in Black? I thought it was a great flick. I can't understand how people can get from space alien to undocumented (illegal) immigrant. Have we slid that far, that now we find offense in a Halloween costume? I'm embarrassed for the organization that is protesting this, and I feel sad for somebody that would find offense in something as silly as this.

I wonder how people would react if I was to dress up as a saltine cracker (I'm white). Would that offend other white people? Possibly that would offend crackers? Maybe Morton salt would get offended cause I was an unsalted cracker.

Enough of this garbage people. Come on what happened to people having a good time with Halloween? Kids dressed up in just about anything they could find when I was a kid. We were a hobo, or a ghost, or sometimes maybe even a ghostly hobo. Will homeless people get offended if my kid becomes a hobo for Halloween? How about mediums? Will they get offended if my kid dresses up as a ghost that doesn't match their idea of a ghost? Heck, will goats be offended that I just called my child a kid?

I would rather have my kid dress up as an illegal space alien, than a hooker, or Charles Manson. No offense intended to killers or prostitutes. I just think that it's a cooler outfit. How about if we all lighten up and quit worrying so much about everything somebody is doing. Everything is not meant to offend. Some people are still trying to have a good time, and guess what? They shouldn't have to worry about whether me or somebody else is gonna be offended, because they are entitled to their opinion of fun.

Maybe the new theme for Halloween should be caffeine free, sugar free, fright free, color free, fun free...... I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, they took the fun out of Christmas years ago. It was just a matter of time until they got around to Halloween.