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Values

November 26, 2005 at 9:00 AM

Angels we have heard on high
Telling us go out and buy.

Every day, my mailbox is stuffed with Christmas catalogs with “Special Values.” For example:

• Cocktail Carousel. A contraption from which you can hang six different liquor bottles in the inverted position. It “dispenses 1.5 ounce shot at a time.” It looks like something I’ve seen at 7-11 (convenience store) which contains fake liqueurs to put in your coffee. For only $29.99, you can make your kitchen counter look like part of a counter at the 7-11.


• Nuts-Nuts-Nuts. “Hospitality defined…the kinds you seldom see in shops…Giant whole cashews, Southern Pecans and California Almonds.” One lb. of nuts for $24.95. Of course you seldom see these nuts at these prices in shops. Who would pay that much for one lb of nuts? When my grocery store has a sale, I can get a one lb jar of roasted peanuts for $0.99.


• Kid’s Accordion. “Everyone loves the sound of an accordion.” If that’s true, why are there so many jokes about accordions and people who play them? “This high-quality instrument produces an authentic sound…” As opposed to a fake sound? At $19.95, it’s the perfect gift for children whose parents you hate.


• Russian Imperial Wreath Earrings. “…based on the wreath adornment from the top of a crystal clock made by the workshop of Peter Carl Faberge.” These earrings are 7/8” long and have 24K gold plate and 14K gold posts. At $70, these are not for people like me who keep losing earrings.


• Chrysanthemum Cutwork Scarf. This scarf has “an intricate and unusual laser-cut design, adapted from a 19th-century Japanese paper stencil. Polyester….70” x 11”. $95.” Although I’m intrigued by the juxtaposition of old and new art forms, I feel that if I pay $95 for a scarf, it should be made of silk, fine wool, or a bullet-proof material.


• Tower of Chocolates Collection. “We fill four fancy gift boxes with four of the world’s greatest chocolates – crafted by our in-house chocolatiers, luxuriously gift-boxed as shown, stacked and tied with a gifty holiday ribbon and bow. Includes our smooth Milk Chocolate Truffles, sophisticated Bing Cherry Chocolates, cool Chocolate Mints and incredible Dark Chocolate Moose Munch popcorn.” 1 lb 11 oz for $34.95. Now this is serious. If anyone wants to buy me something for Christmas, this is it! I’ve spent too many years of my life as a pauper, reduced to eating Hershey bars.

For years, I’ve felt bad about the annual Christmas gift giving ritual. Gifts are often exchanged between middle class people who can afford everything they really need and some of the things they’d just like. Some of us struggle with trying to dream up something new and different to buy for each other year after year. We struggle to find gifts that we can afford, too. There are so many people who are really in need in the US, the richest nation on earth. Many people who lived in the path of Hurricane Katrina are now homeless. About one quarter of the population here has no health insurance. The budget of the National Endowment for the Arts is steadily being reduced, and some politicians keep trying to eliminate its funding altogether. These are not theoretical considerations for me. I have a friend whose family in New Orleans lost their home and most of their possessions in the hurricane. I have been, and probably will be again, without health insurance. My prescription drugs cost over $1000 a month. I buy pizza and candy from schoolchildren who are raising money for their schools to buy textbooks. I see homeless people sleeping on grates in winter.

This year I’m going to do something I have wanted to do for years: alternate giving. Instead of buying gifts for my friends, I will make donations to charity. Some churches and other organizations have alternate giving fairs, and I went to one last year. People from various charitable organizations were there, and we consumers shopped around and decided who to give money to. I contributed some money towards the purchase of an asthma inhaler. One month’s supply of one kind costs about $175. I know because I use three different kinds.

Pete Seeger once said, “Even though my weight may be no more than that of one grain of sand, I will put my weight where I think it will do the most good, rather than live with a bad conscience.”