Are you glad the Holiday season is over?

Personally, I am glad it is now January. I have always loved the time from Thanksgiving all the way through to New Years Day but something has changed. It isn't the same anymore. Maybe we, or perhaps just I, have lost the true meaning of it all. Maybe it is too commercialized. Busy and overwhelming instead of relaxed and enjoyable. Maybe it is because I am a grown up and don't get the time off that children do. It could be a lot of things. When I am out in the stores merchandising I try to keep to myself and not make eye contact too much. I get interrupted enough as it is and lose a lot of time each day. But for the last several weeks I couldn't help but notice peoples behavior. Screaming kids is always a factor and I don't let that get to me although it does seem worse than ever lately. People asking me to help them reach something is also an everyday occurrence. Then there were the rude folks because maybe I was working in an area where they wanted to shop. They don't say excuse me, they just push the cart right in and don't care if they run me over or move my cart out of the way. The "taking up the whole aisle" type or the going through the speed lane with too many items. These things happen all the time and are just multiplied by ten during the season. Normally I just shrug it off and keep working. Sometimes I laugh or shake my head. What I really noticed this season were the parents trying to buy things for their kids that they knew they couldn't afford. You can hear the conversations and you know they don't want to put it back but they also don't know how they are going to pay for the items. I saw this several times in December and it is hard to watch but what I really wonder is why the pressure. Why do these parents feel as though they need to break the bank. The little ones don't know the difference or understand how much you spent. They just want to open something. Another strange thing I saw was a total lack of communication. People would see each other in the store, greet each other and start a conversation. You could see one party was very happy and enjoying the talk and the other just wanted to keep moving. What I surmise from my time in public over the last six weeks or so is that we have become a very ungrateful society with no manners or patience. It is all about me, I am more important than anyone else in the building, my time is more important than yours will ever be, don't make eye contact and certainly don't talk to me. Such a sad way to live. I am going to do my best to not be like that. Be grateful for each and every day because you just never know. Oh, and go out of your way to be super nice to all of the rude nasty people. It really pisses them off!