It is officially December, which means it's now appropriate to pull out the Christmas decorations and start playing the holiday music. While I had previously believed that Black Friday kicked off the holdiay shopping, I am now informed that it was, in fact, Cyber Monday. I've never heard of Cyber Monday before and I wonder if any other days of the week will soon get their own holiday adjective, as well.
Our firm is doing something a little different for its employees this year. Usually, it gives out holidays gifts to everyone (we're a small firm of about 40 people). Last year, for example, everyone got Wiis. Scott and I were excited about this for about a month; neither of us were allowed to have video games growing up, but the novelty of the Wii soon wore off and it's now sitting, dusty, in our living room.
This year, because of the economic downturn and the resulting effect on our communities, the firm is doing away with employee gifts and using that money to sponsor 10 families - 5 families in Atlanta (where our second office is located) and 5 families in Durham. So our employees have been busy playing Santa Claus and it has been touching to see what we have purchased for these families.
That sparked an idea for me and Scott - we are fortunate that neither we nor our families truly need anything. So we asked that we don't exchange gifts this year; instead, we'll use the money we normally would have spent on our families on a Raleigh family that is truly in need. So far, we are only halfway through our budget and I'm amazed by the amount of clothes we've been able to buy for these four children. We racked up on Black Friday, finding nice, warm coats at Old Navy for $30 each. Not only is it so much less stressful, but it also embodies the true meaning of Christmas. And, in the end, we will probably buy so much less "junk."
So this weekend, we're off to buy a Christmas tree and finish shopping for the family. This year, the holidays feel so much more like they should be - filled with the joy and giving of the season.
4 comments:
What a great idea. There was an article in this weekend's N&O about Red Hat passing on its annual Christmas party and donating the money they would have spent to the Food Bank. I'm thinking of suggesting that to the folks in my office.
You and Scott are so amazing! What a great and selfless plan for this holiday season. I knew I liked you two.
Our office also decided to forgo the annual Christmas (yes, I said Christmas, not holiday because I want to say Christmas) and sponsor a family in Alexandria. I'll let you know how it goes!
It's a terrific idea. But what about all those poor folks who make a living selling crap we don't need? Now they'll be out of jobs!
[Maybe we'll move to a new economy that doesn't depend on people buying useless stuff to keep it going.]
X Curmudgeon - that would be utopia. Better for the environment, better for our souls. Maybe a good thing about the economy is that it's making our society evaluate what's truly important and needed in our lives. If we could change this culture of buying stuff just to have, then maybe we'll be better off as a society in the long run.
There's a great SunTrust radio spot about that - Remember when you were trying to keep up with the Jones'? And now you're more interested in stability and what matters is what you really need for your future. I think that does a great job of embodying where our economy and mindset is today.
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