IN MY SHOES: I’m Dreaming Of A Cheap Christmas
The Wall Street Journal reports that in November – for the fifth month in a row - consumers kept their wallets under lock and key, and Advertising Age reports on a survey suggesting that as gas prices have plummeted 60 percent since Labor Day consumers applied the savings towards groceries rather than gifts. Here, some examples of how people decided to economize in these recessionary times:
† Hard-Times Christmas, The
† Budgeting Holiday Tips During a Recession, The New York Times, December 15, 2008
† 12 Million Brits Prepared To Wait Until 27th December To Save £5.6 Billion On Christmas Celebrations, Talk Talk Press Release, December 22, 2008 (BTW: Eastern Orthodox Christians already beat these Brits to the punch by celebrating Theophany (AKA Epiphany and Three Kings Day) on January 6th, which leaves plenty of time to shop the after-Christmas sales for great bargains.)
Editorial Note: The Stiletto will have a full house this Christmas, and will resume publishing on Monday, December 29th so she can spend quality and quantity time with family she rarely sees. The Stiletto wishes her readers a joyous holiday, and would like to share this snippet from an E-mail, “The ‘W’ in Christmas,” about a kindergarten Christmas Pageant that’s been making the rounds and was forwarded to her by AZ Willow:
Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as “Christmas,” I didn't expect anything other than songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. … My son, Nicholas, and his classmates were adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters and bright snowcaps on their heads. Those in the front row were supposed to hold up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of their song, “Christmas Love.” As the class would sing “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter “C.” Then, “H is for Happy,” and on and on … The performance was going smoothly, until a small girl held up the letter “M” upside down - totally unaware her letter appeared as a “W.” The audience of first- through sixth-graders snickered, but she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she proudly held her “W.” Teachers tried to shush the children, but the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw the message loud and clear: “C H R I S T W A S L O V E.”
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