Attention, holiday shoppers … where are you? While I have lamented the loss of the luxury of shopping since I started college, it now appears that even wealthy Americans are keeping a stingy eye on their wallets this season.
According to a recent ABC News poll, people who usually have spent up to $930 on holiday shopping by this time are spending nearly $200 less. It doesn’t seem like much, but decreased seasonal spending is affecting all kinds of businesses, from large to small. Stores nationwide are
being forced to have early sales, even stores that normally never offer discounts. This holiday shopping season is predicted to be one of the longest — but cheapest — ever. And it’s expected to be what the U.S. News & World Report calls “a bargain basement Christmas”: Good for our shopping lists, but bad for the already-slumping economy.
Whether it’s the pervading gloom-and-doom from the events of Sept. 11 and the recent fatal cases of anthrax, or the high unemployment rate coupled with the economy’s dive, who can blame shoppers for being
apprehensive? Some might even argue that a season of decreased spending will allow us to get back to a less commercialized, family-based holiday season — the way it is “supposed” to be.
I take a different view. Spending money has become just as much an American holiday tradition as putting up the Christmas tree or lighting the menorah. And as much as we whine that the holidays have become too commercialized, businesses actually depend on this season for a large portion of their livelihood. In fact, most stores rely so much on holiday shoppers, they begin preparations as early as summer.
Many people are employed by these businesses and rely on them for their own livelihoods. If we decide to skimp on our holiday shopping or even forgo gift-giving and other traditions altogether, we may be hurting ourselves more than we realize.
While the state of our country certainly saddens me, and I have compassion for those who lost friends and family members in recent tragedies, I intend to have a regular holiday. If we have the money, and understandably some of us don’t, we should still make merry this season. That includes spending the amount we usually spend on gifts, parties and other holiday frivolities. After all, this season only comes once a year.
I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t consider giving to charities this year, or that those who are morally, religiously or financially opposed to excessive holiday spending should alter their points of view. I also realize that the “true” meaning of the season would still exist if absolutely no one received a single gift this year. It’s definitely important to take stock of our real blessings this holiday season — our families, our freedom, etc. — but at the same time, we shouldn’t forget the tradition of an old-fashioned American holiday season. It’s the stuff all my holiday memories are made of: The fun of eating too much, drinking too much and most of all, spending too much money; in short, corporate greed and unchecked gluttony. Just kidding.