Dec 13 2008
Tis The Season
As we head into the homestretch of the 2008 holiday season, where retailers are relentlessly offering come ons so aggressively that a man was killed by torrents of shoppers that have quite a distorted view of the meaning of the season, consumers seem more reluctant to pull out the plastic to pay for their wares.
Perhaps consumers are finally growing up and realizing just how much their addiction to shopping and spending has hurt them and their families. Maybe not, I don’t really know the reason why, but it is a welcome trend and I hope it continues.
Consumer spending has gone out of control. I realized this when a friend’s 8 year old daughter gave her parents a wish list for her Easter basket that consisted of a laptop computer, an iPod and a cell phone.
Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of holiday shoppers are still paying off their credit card bills from last season.
I see this as the silver lining of the grey cloud the economy has given us. Maybe we can break the binds of slavery that retailers have had us in since the 70’s.
In the spirit of Christmas, I am reminded of tiny Tim’s words echoing through my mind.
God bless us, one and all.
