O Tannenbaum, No Presents Under Your Loyal Needles!

Yes, that time of year is upon us again, the yuletide, lights, families, and of course one of the oldest of traditions, the Christmas tree.  But something is amiss this year, there are fewer presents under that tree.  Oh, the humanity!  Traditionally, by this point in December, there are so many presents under the tree that people trip over them.  The cat’s spot to curl up under the tree has been commandeered by all the retail delights covered with colorful wrap.

Alas, this year will be a little different as Santa has run into a bit of a snafu.  Since late 2020 there has been a bottleneck of ships coming into America’s ports (mainly California).  Most of the ships have containers loaded with products made in China and Southeast Asia.  You know, our Christmas presents.  The delay in the port of Los Angeles accelerated in the fall of 2020 and has not eased (that will teach you for trying to avoid the Christmas rush).  Anxious times for many who believed they had accomplished their annual travails early.

There are a couple of issues here that must be examined.  First of all, the bottleneck of things coming in from overseas is not limited to Christmas gifts.  Most of our so-called “razor blade” items or disposable products are no longer manufactured here in the US.  Most of the electronic chips (manufactured in China) that virtually run everything from cell phones to refrigerators to automobiles have been delayed for several months.  In the auto industry, the shortage is so dire that the production of many models has ceased until the new chips arrive.   The shortage of chips has also led to the increased cost to consumers as fewer products are being produced (you know that supply/demand thing).

The other issue here, one that should be equally disturbing, is the necessity of numerous, expensive gifts under the tree.  The commercialization of Christmas has been happening in this country since the 1950s.  Televisions are completely flooded by Christmas advertisements touting all the best upper-middle-class gifts for Christmas.  If you watch closely, every household in the holiday commercials is owned by the upper-middle class, near wealthy lawyers or bank officers.  Rarely have I seen commercials touting gifts for a family living in a rundown mobile home park.  If the ad was about a poor family car for Christmas it would have featured a slimy, leisure suit-wearing man offering you a deal even if you are unemployed.

Many corporate retail behemoths place all of their bets on the holiday seasons for the year’s profits.  Heaven and Hell help us if we fail to have a profitable holiday season.  Few gifts today have any warmth or charm that was not designed in a boardroom and produced in a child labor camp in Southeast Asia.  Once upon a time, holiday gifts were purchased in cozy shops that offered free hot chocolate.  Today we buy gifts in a large hangar-like building where the only thing being handed out is the newest variant of Covid.  You can, however, brew your own hot chocolate while shopping at home, online.

Gone are the handcrafted gifts that were built with love and pride in a small workshop somewhere in a wooded community that would show up on a holiday card.  While gifts have always been a part of the Christmas holiday dating back to the days of the Roman Empire those gifts were handmade or grown.  I can only imagine just how cheap frankincense and myrrh are today on the mega online corporate retail sites.  To be fair, you can still order handmade crafts from overseas, but fuck knows if you will get them by Memorial Day. 

There is also the issue of trying to outdo yourself every year with the selection of a special or unique gift.  Hell, the holidays are the equivalent of a tourist trap, where you get off a ship or a plane and are bombarded by gift vendors.  Who knew that one day of the year could create a dilemma that can last for months?  The mental torture that some go through only to end up calling the gift recipient for ideas.  The one I love the most is the request for a list of gift ideas that is returned with the request for better gift ideas.  Really, like I don’t know what the hell I want.      

I know that I am being flippant here, we are all aware of the hellish homage that holiday gift-buying has become.  Let me see if I can put this all into perspective.  First, the shipping bottleneck has certainly demonstrated the need to build more stuff on our own shores.  However, that is an argument for another day. Next, we are all trapped in this retail matrix of hell that has taken a season of peace and joy and turned it into a war of gluttony and materialism.  You know that things have gone south when one day of the week is renamed “black”.  When the world becomes a monolith society of mindless drones who follow the annual command to go out and recklessly spend their precious dollars on things that no one wants or wears.

Shouldn’t the holidays be a time of love and friendship where the best gift is health and peace?  Maybe it’s a time we just share eggnog (preferably spiked) and toast the health and well-being of loved ones and friends.  Hand-crafted or grown gifts are still acceptable and have every bit the sentiment and meaning as high tech, forced labor devices.  Weep not for the gifts that didn’t arrive and are not under the Christmas tree, but rather cherish the gifts that can be given anytime without purchase—peace, life, and love!  Happy Holidays and as always, this is just my opinion.

The Grumpy Old Fart Citizen

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