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| Callie - Counting her Blessing |
I’m
so grateful this Thanksgiving holiday. However, I do have to point out three
things that annoy me:
1.
The
lack of recognition Thanksgiving receives. Christmas decorations, lights and high-pressure
advertising begin right after Halloween. Black Friday is spilling over into
Thanksgiving Day, taking people away from their families in order to have
stores ready at midnight. Honestly, is this necessary?
The average credit card debt per
household is around $16,000.00, making the total U.S. consumer debt around
$2.43 trillion. (1) Does Uncle Joe really need another pair of
Christmas boxer shorts this year? Do we really need to fight over the last $30.00
Cars 2 Spy Attack McMissile car at four
in the morning? Do people really need to get trampled when the doors open?
However, I’m not blind to the
individuals trying to make money during this season. I recently attended a
Christmas Gift Show. There were over 400 vendors present, and I honestly saw (and
felt) their desperate desire to make a sale. I left the show feeling sad and upset
about the current economic crisis.
2.
The
lack of understanding about turkey growers. Northern Sanpete County used to be
one of the biggest turkey producers in the country. While taking a drive
through this part of the country, you’ll notice very few turkeys gobbling around
like in the past. One plant, Moroni Feed, was particularly hard hit by the
economy. In 2008 they laid off over 500 employees. Part of the problem is the
rising cost of feed. As the government pulls farmers away from corn production
to produce ethanol, turkey growers, along with a lot of other farmers, just can’t survive. It’s not just here in
Utah, but across the country.
As a side point, my vehicle hasn’t
been running as well since they’ve added ethanol to the fuel. My vehicle runs
rough, my gas mileage is poor, and I’ve needed additional automotive services. Just
saying.
3.
My
last grievance (I bet you’re so glad) is that nearly 15 percent of Americans
are receiving food stamps. This is a record level and an increase of about
two-thirds since 2007. One in six Americans (about 49 million people) say they
have trouble putting food on the table. (2) One in six. Wow! Isn’t
it sad, then, to be so focused on material possessions?
For
Thanksgiving, I’m giving thanks for all my blessing and praying that the
leaders of our country will forget politics and their partisan parties and,
instead, turn this country around. Thanksgiving symbolizes what we all should
be thinking about this time of year—being thankful and kind to one another. (Could
we all try that while driving, please?)
What
are your views on this season of giving thanks?
Cindy A. Christiansen
Sweet Romance, Comedy, Suspense...and Dogs!
Fly into a good book at: www.dragonflyromance.com
7 comments:
Cindy, we resonate on so many levels. Does anyone NEED more "stuff" to unwrap, most of which will never be used? We face an epidemic of obesity in this country, we have so many people who can't put food on the table, yet so many are malnourished because they have believed the hype about commercially prepared "food" being as good for them if not better than "real" food.
The original ads for McDonald's were "You deserve a break today" and people went there once in a while, now drive through food is a staple of our existence.
So very WELL SAID, Cindy! Good for you for putting that out there!
Holiday Blessings!
Hugs, Kari Thomas, www.authorkari.com
Yes, right on. I'm disgusted by how Thanksgiving is utterly plowed through by all the Xmas hype. All their ads advertise is greed -- grab this, buy this, gotta HAVE, HAVE, HAVE!!!
Thanksgiving should be just that -- a time to relax, reflect, and...to push away from the table!!!
Thanks for sharing! I'm glad I'm not alone.
Cindy, I agree that the holiday commercialism has far exceeded my wildest expectations, so have the choices of many Americans. It's hard for me to believe that those who complain about lack of healthcare benefits walk around with the latest technology in hand (Ipods, Iphones, HDTV's etc..). They can pay for massive data plans, cable or satellite TV yet they can't afford healthcare? I believe that folks need to honestly examine their priorities and make some changes instead of expecting a government to bail-out. If you can't afford to put food on the table, downgrade your cell from "smart" IPhone to a "dumb" flip phone. Eliminate that data plan. Instead of cable or satellite T.V., downgrade to antenna. Borrow DVDs from the local library. How about reading instead of watching all that T.V. anyway? The library is good for borrowing books and music also.
Cindy, thank you for your "concerns" I totally agree about Thanksgiving being lost. In fact it has been run over by Halloween which is overlapped with Christmas. I have been hearing Christmas since mid October. I refuse to even think about the end of December until after thanksgiving is past.
The commercialization negates, are at least tries, the meaning of Christmas to those of us who celebrate that Holy day.
thanks again, Dean
Anonymous, I so agree with what you said. That sort of thing really frustrates me too. Oh, no. Another topic for I've Got a Bone to Pick. ")
Thanks for commenting.
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