Christmas Scrooge

I'm Scrooge.

I had to go to a couple stores and a mall this weekend. It was horrible. Parking lots without parking spots, malls with bouncers, stores with every till open and line ups stretching for all eternity. I hate materialism. And Christmas brings out the worst of those who writhe in materialism like a pig in slop. Every year the news covers the latest Black Friday stampedes, shootings, fights and deaths as people struggle to buy more junk they can't afford to give to those who don't need it and people they are mostly indifferent about.

I rarely buy Christmas presents. And if I do buy something, it usually has nothing to do with Christmas at all. The timing is just a coincidence. However, I'm a fairly generous person with my time, money and possessions. I try to help out where I can regardless of the time of year.

Several days ago at work some of the office staff were talking about what they were buying their kids for Christmas and how they hope to be done Christmas shopping weeks before the actual date. I casually mentioned that I don't buy anyone anything for Christmas. Their reactions were amazing. Some had looks of sheer horror, as though I just kicked their dogs. Others thought I was lying. Others still tried to coax the "truth" out of me, suggesting what I meant was that I only buy presents for my immediate family or something that fit within their paradigm. I said it again. Nothing. No one. Silence. So I continued to talk. I told them that I don't want to waste money that could go towards something positive and/or practical on things that no one wants or needs just because every one else is doing it. A couple people quietly admitted that it made sense. They were also the same people talking about all the toys they were buying for their kids. Then someone quite seriously said, "But you're still buying something for your wife, right?" Nope. More silence. Aghast looks on their faces. It made my day. I hope some were shocked enough to change their habits, but they probably won't.

As an aside, I was the lowest paid person in that room. (By my own choice. I choose time over money when practical.) And yet I probably had the highest net value of everyone there. I don't particularly care about the value of my "stuff" but if I were to play by their rules, I own 5 houses, have a net worth closing in on 7 figures and my car cost more than my parents paid for their current home. I will be a millionaire by the time I'm 40 and I plan to retire by 50, which was younger than at least a couple people in the room. I am not a slave to money or things like they are. I actually feel sorry for them.

I bought my wife a house and a car a couple months ago. And we just spent a couple hundred dollars on things I would consider unnecessary to decorate this new house. That alone is enough of a decent into materialism for me.

Bah Humbug and Merry Christmas!