Spend your spirit,
By Warren Kaneshiro
not your moneyIT'S beginning to look a lot like Christmas ..." Stop the music! Christmas, already? Ugh. But we just had one of those last year!
Ahem, take it from the top. "It's beginning to look a lot like ... crowded malls, haunting gift list, fighting traffic, anxiety and debt!"
If Dec. 25 has become a mere deadline for gift hunting instead of a day that conjures good spirits; or if you find yourself nervously counting the number of paychecks coming your way before the big day, you are focusing too much on Christmas' material side and too little on spirit.
Has anyone wondered why we, like hypnotized subjects, stand before the mall's doors, take deep breaths, push the doors open and spend on gifts the money that usually goes to pay the rent?
Ask yourself why you go through this drama each year: You think of something your friend Joe might want or need. You look for it at mall No. 1, store No. 1. Nope not there. You walk to store No. 2. Nada. You then try stores Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6. Hmmm. Perhaps no one carries those orange dog hair socks anymore, you think. So you trek to mall No. 2 ... You get the picture.
Say you finally find the pair of orange dog hair socks at mall No. 3, store No. 10, floor No. 3. As you hold the gift, you realize you must wrap it, but there's no wrapping paper at home. So you zoom to Holiday Mart. Halfway there, you learn that there has been a five-car accident in the direction you are heading. Screaming expletives doesn't help.
Finally, you hand Joe his gift. You also hand him the gift-giving burden.
"Ho, I nevah buy nahtin' for da guy!" Joe thinks.
So he, too, goes through the gift-buying trauma and delivers your gift with a disheveled look.
Both of you collapse from legs tortured by standing in lines, but there's no time to rest. This painful process must be repeated for dozens of other friends and family members.
"I'm a moron," both of you think. Yet, tradition calls.
Come Christmas Day, Joe opens his gift and utters, "What the ... orange dog hair socks?"
You roar, "A Hanson brother's CD? Eek, burn it!"
And then you receive a credit card statement that tells you your debt has grown four-fold.
"Boy, I'm a moron's moron," you say. So does Joe when he sees his statement.
SO what are you saying, Warren, you ask? Give up giving?
No, I'm aware that we all love giving and our inner child loves receiving. So I'll just say that if you are going to give, make giving fun, easy and cheap so the process is more pleasurable than painful.
Agree to spending limits. Cook or bake something. It's not a stupid idea. Remember, a way to a man's or woman's heart is through his or her stomach, not through a pair of orange dog hair socks. Keep in mind however, that a fruitcake is like a brick, and should be given to enemies only.
Anti-Martha Stewarts can send a card -- one that says more than, "Dear Jane, Merry Xmas!"
If you're really lazy, give someone a call or send an e-mail message. Wish that someone a fruitcake-free Merry Christmas.
I would prefer a card or call over a pair of orange dog hair socks any day. Besides, things that cost little or nothing can hold more heart than an expandable cardboard box crammed with an expensive gift.
Bottom line: If you're looking to have a merry Christmas, you may want to focus more on the spirit-filled things -- trimming the pine, feasting, family bonding (corny, I know), helping the less fortunate, and, if you are a religious person, celebrating what makes the day special -- and less on gifts. You not only will be happier, you may just be able to pay January's rent on time.
Warren Kaneshiro is a first-year student
at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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