Food for Thought

This morning my son and I were watching the Christmas marathon on one of the cartoon channels and Bah-Humduck was on. I guess you could say it’s an updated version of the Christmas Carol, complete with Daffy Duck being the terrible business owner and Elmer Fudd being the poor employee. There were several other employees, too, but Elmer was the main one.

Anyway – the cartoon is focusing on the business aspect of things. Daffy says, at one point, “Get back to work! There are customers to exploit!” Exactly….
 
As I sat there with my son, my mind began to wander. I thought of all of the stores I had seen lately with signs in their windows, saying they would be open on Christmas Eve. I had received plenty of emails from various companies saying the same thing. It made me wonder. Why do we even need to shop on Christmas Eve? Shouldn’t we be done by now?
 
It’s only fair that the employees get to spend their Christmas Eve at home with their families, the same as the customers are able to do. If they aren’t too busy shopping, that is….
 
With the signs and emails and customers, aren’t our businesses doing the same thing as Daffy? Who are we to complain about the businesses taking advantage of customers if we willing shop until the last minute for everything? Is it fair, really, to complain about something that we promote and encourage by participating? I don’t think so.
 
My shopping this year ran a bit late, I have to admit, but it didn’t take me until Christmas Eve to get it all done. My goal for the coming year is to shop sooner, and hopefully you’ll join me. For this year, my heart goes out to those who have to work on this lovely holiday, including our service men and women.
 
Merry Christmas!