I also can't help being overly-cynical at the way people go about spending over this season. Now I don't care if people who can afford it spend a million dollars on Christmas, what gets me is those who don't have it who try to make it up by just going into extreme debt this time of year. And the useless gifts people buy...it's that whole philosophy of trying to buy the love of your children. Last year the local newspaper had a debate about whether there whould be a Wal-Mart in one of the smaller cities in the area. One person wrote in and said there should be because every Christmas they had to drive 45 minutes to the next-closest Wal-Mart to buy Christmas presents and couldn't afford to go anywhere else because with the large amount they spend Wal-Mart saved them money. They noted spending well over $1000 dollars. I'm sorry, but if the only place you can afford to shop is Wal Mart and you are spending well over $1000 on Christmas, you need to tone down a little. Or maybe your children really need that "Cow Pie" game of the life-sized Minnie Mouse or every movie you can find to put them in front of the TV all day.

Every year I show the movie "I am Sam" with my students and after the fact ask them if they would rather have a parent like the character played by Michelle Pfeifer in the movie who buys their child everything but doesn't spend any time with him, or the character played by Sean Penn who has no money but spends all the time he can with his daughter. Almost to a person they answer with Sean Penn, and these are spoiled rotten little kids who are as selfish as they come. Need I say more.