Time for a Holiday Rant and Conspiracy Theories

Tis the season to.... beat the living crap out of each other, stand in line of 50 for 30 PS3's or Wii's or whatever, and to give someone somewhere a really good laugh about stupid Americans. Basically folks, it's the least wonderful time of the year, and very few of the people I've seen are actually going to be on Santa's good list. How did I get to be such a Scrooge?? Where to begin-

1. Our beloved Sheltie, Sam, who has been with us for 11 1/2 years, was put to sleep a week before Thanksgiving. He had stopped eating and drinking and was very miserble. Our DS, also 11 1/2, was devastated. DD, at 5, asked for another dog- sensitvity is not her strong suit. DD is the one who when she gets angry at me points out the gray hairs on my head (which she gave me!!).

2.The day after Thanksgiving, as my husband is putting up his tree (I'm Jewish, he's not), I turn on CNN, and see 2 grown men beating the (Thanksgiving) stuffing out of each other over who was in line first . This after all the hoopla of the above mentioned gaming systems and how people stood in line for hours to get on a list, or just get into the store. Folks- if there are 30 units available, and you are # 31, you might as well GO HOME!!! My neighbor stood in line for 4 hours to get on the waiting list for the Wii. She was #9 out of 10. Her son has already been given the system, so there will be nothing under the tree for him. Being Jewish, IF I had even bought the system for my son, I would have doled out each piece over the 8 nights- make the excitement last longer;-) (console the first night, electrical cord the last night)

3. Conspiracy Theory #1- The companies that make these hard to find toys/gaming systems actually have an adequate stock, but are holding it back just to get a good laugh at how much we are willing to pay for the stupid things, and to what lengths we will go to to get one- including fighting. After the holidays, these companies are going to flood the market with the systems, adn the price will go down dramatically.

4. Conspiracy Theory #2- All the video footage that is being shot of this holiday frenzy (read stupidity) is secretly being recorded by the Chinese and shown in some re-education center where they make these toys to show their fallen comrades how bad capitalism really is!! Someone is also getting a good giggle over the amount of tape and twist ties are on the dolls I buy for my DD. It takes major surgery to remove them from the box.

Rant over. If you are wondering about my plans for the rest of the year, remain hidden secretly laughing at all the stupidity out there- and despairing over the fact that there is no peace on earth, goodwill toward man, or woman.