Kinder, gentler me.

You may notice, this blog shows my kinder and gentler side, as opposed to the Nothing Wrong
Here blog. I just wanted you to know that side of me still exists in spite of getting involved
in the dirty world of politics!

Since Christmas has passed, the American people are jumping into the frenzied art of
After-Christmas shopping. I don't mean the shopping to catch all of the 99% Off After-
Christmas Sales, but returning the unwanted Christmas presents. I have never understood
this obsession.
Years ago, one day shortly before Christmas, Jim asked me if I liked the color green.
I told him, "No"--rather emphatically, never even questioning why he wanted to know.
On Christmas morning I unwrapped a green coat with a fur collar.
By the time I unwrapped the coat, Jim was more than a little unhappy with me. First
of all, he claimed when he tried to determine the size to buy, when he looked in my closet
he found three different sizes of clothes. Well, if you ask me, there is nothing unusual
about that--but he thought it weird. I explained there were clothes too small, clothes too
large and clothes just right, for that particular time in history. He did pick the right size,
though, and I wore that green coat for many years. I would never have dreamed of returning
it. That experience was so traumatic for Jim, though, he never again bought me anything to wear.
I finally asked someone near and dear to me, why people get so excited about returning
Christmas gifts, and she said most of the enthusastic people are consummate shoppers,
and they like the thrill of the hunt (for bargains) and secondly they are buying without spending their own money, O.K.???
We nearly had a come-apart in our family years ago over unwanted Christmas presents.
Our family survived, as families are prone to do, but I never felt the same about Christmas
after that. It was at that time that we started giving money for Christmas--and you know
something? I have never had those gifts returned yet!