It's that time of year again where we are beginning to think about the Christmas season. The mornings are cooler, leaves are falling and Walmart is in their third month of displaying Christmas trees and snow flakes. If we are kids we begin to think about the gifts we want. What is the latest and greatest video game? Another toy gun? Maybe a remote control car? And if your my eight year old, you start making lists of the "as seen on TV" items you want.
Adults have it a bit different. We have to make lists of people we really don't want to give gifts to but society says we should. The list (by no means exhaustive) will include (or you will be ostracized for life) your hair dresser, hair shampooer, hair receptionist, nail salon professional, postman and UPS man and FedEx guy, pool man, gardener, lawn boy, handyman, mechanic, the eight teachers each of your children have and their aids, all school administrators, the school librarian, lunch staff, cross walk guards, school security guards, your minister and everyone at church, your meter reader, and your barista. Daunting to say the least. Given the magnitude of the list it is no wonder that gift wrapping has become the area we cut to save time. That brings us to the gift bag.
There was a time, in the not so distant past, where people would take the time and energy to wrap a present. With love and feeling we would choose the perfect paper. Perhaps the one with frosty the snowman. Yeah, thats the perfect one for her. Then we would meticulously measure, fold, cut and lovingly tape in order to get the right representation of just how much we care for the recipient. This was no joke! Mess up and you either have to begin again or risk being ridiculed at the next PTO meeting or girls luncheon. But mistakes were seldom allowed to slip through. We just cared that much.
All thats changed now. We either just don't care, have become lazy, or are overwhelmed by the sheer number of people we have been convinced we have to give a gift to. Or maybe it's a generational thing. I like to think that we just care too much. We just don't want to upset anyone. So we trade the time for the bag. And the toilet paper. We can't forget the thin, colored, toilet paper looking stuff that we stick in the bag with the gift. We use this because it makes it appear as if we spent more time on it than we actually did. It's all a misdirection.
There are, however, people capable of making way more out of bag gift giving than they should be able to. There are tutorials and detailed instruction lists on exactly how to place the toilet paper in the bag so it looks fluffed and acceptable. No kidding. Just youtube it, I mean, pinterest it.
This gift bag giving has spilled over into ever other gift giving occasion you can think of. Yes, it has invaded all aspects of our lives. I just try and close my eyes to it all. But let me tell you one thing I do know, if you do happen to get a hand wrapped gift, be it Christmas or another holiday, you should consider yourself very loved. You were worth the time and effort. You are special. And what does it mean if you didn't get a gift wrapped present from the people you consider your friends? It might just let us know who our real friends are and that perhaps an unfriending is in order.
El Toro Negro
I know the last thing you want to think about right now is politics. We just went through what most people consider one of the strangest elections anyone can remember. My views haven't been a secret in the past, and they still aren't. I'm not going to go into ideology here. I am, however, pleased and hopeful with the results. 
