“Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards – the things we live by and teach our children – are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings.”~ Walt Disney
And I’m back. In not any moment too soon before the Christmas holiday & break .
But I knew that I would be back today here when I woke up this morning as today was our grand ole fun-filled Holiday Party. A party in which no neighbor has referred to it as such in over five years. With the kinda of neighbors that I have now, political correctness can sit on it!
Our usual gathering took place with snacks and drinks and other deliciousness. As much as you had wished to stack onto a plate.
But the one part that would make you run and get the popcorn from home, would be ……. the gift exchange.
Allow me to explain why this is entertaining.
First off, there is a $10 limit on gifts. Of course, you must give a gift to receive a gift. Even though other people have attempted to lie and falsify that they gave, just to get something more… it never worked out well for them. But instead of doing something about it, they get passed off as “old and confused.” It doesn’t make sense to me either.
But one year after the gift exchange had been announced that it had come to an end. Everyone looked at what they had RANDOMLY SELECTED and nobody was happy or satisfied with what they received.
One woman who has been a rather frequent topic of conversation in this blog stood right up and announced a proposition for other neighbors if they had the desire to “SWAP” what they had with hers. Within one hour, I watched that one gift get traded and swapped through a total of four separate people.
The gift in question you may wonder? A two-cup coffee maker.
Another year, an old bitty was so greedy about receiving something through the gift exchange, that she had let it slip her mind until that very day. So just hours ahead of the party, she dumped out the contents of her own personal wallet and threw it in a box and then put it under the tree.
I can still see the look on the person’s face who had randomly selected that wallet. It wasn’t new. It was old and falling apart. And there was nothing inside of it either. All in the name of getting something more.
For the past couple of years, after the gift exchange had come to an end, it was an automatic thing that people would swap and switch their gifts. For as long as they were not receiving the same gift that they gave for the exchange.
So in 2015, I chose emphatically not to participate in the gift exchange. But rather sit back like a boss and watch the people trip and drown in their own selfishness and avarice.
I was not disappointed. The gifts that were under the tree this year were horrible. And I think the thought behind them were even worse. A person can do a lot with a ten dollar limit. This group of participating hoarders simply chose not to go that far in their exchange. A lot of thoughtless gifts, and even more bullshit ideas that would be considered as a present…. in the minds of simple children. 
So we pass another holiday season here. Christmas is just a few days away. And sadly for me, it will be just another day of the week as my sister already made her plans for the holiday elsewhere and out of town. I’ll probably get a few text messages and a couple of telephone calls of family and friends wishing me a Merry Christmas. And that will be the extent of it.
Stay tuned. 2016 is going to be packed full of surprises. I PROMISE YOU! Just be patient……………….
Dambreaker 