It’s the time of the season for shopping...

Or should I say, “It is the time of the year to balance the GDP and make it/break it retail?”

Not one to put up seasonal decorations and at an age when there is no one else I buy presents for, December 25 is only the one day a year when the Tummy Temple is closed.

The walking downtown to the department stores to find my mother some fragrance she can store with her collection at her make-up stand or some gloves or scarves but never anything personal. Dad would get a tie or a bottle of Old Spice and usually a jigsaw puzzle for my brother and I’m done.

Christmas was the special time of year for my dad. He would fill the living room with loot to unwrap, then stack to show his appreciation for the family. I carried the tradition, even though there were no children to enjoy Santa, it was a futile procedure for entertainment and storage. Live trees were the norm, but with more animal’s pine trees in the living room were not optimum.

Today instead of window shopping or wandering the malls in search of a way to waste your money on that will either be a cherished memory or regifted next year.

What will be on your shopping list? Now that we stare at screens all day, all those little pop-ups are now converted into ‘fake news’ enticing a rabbit hole to take your money. Would you buy this kitchen appliance because it was endorsed by a pot smoking felon? Nothing says loving like another appliance for the kitchen or a replacement oven. Clothing goes out of style or wears out; jewelry goes out of fashion and timely items just fill up the closet.

We shop when we need something necessary. We shop for food or we will die. We shop for transportation or take the bus. We shop for affordable shelter that is large enough to fit all your stuff in hopefully in an area where you can tolerate your neighbors.

Then we shop for schools and churches and employment so as to afford more stuff we don’t need but spur of the moment purchases due to advertising (which filled my career convincing you that if you bought something, it paid my salary). Marketing and promotion are only feeding our dopamine and greed.

This year it seems mini-chainsaws, cordless vacuum cleaners and weighted blankets seem the trend this year. You can shop for drugs but you can’t buy wellness. You can shop for gym wear, but you know no one is going to the gym after age 25. You can shop for entertaining electronics that will take 6-months to learn how to us the upgrade, but you can’t buy happiness. You can shop for intimate items, but you can’t buy love.

The experience of shopping is just spending time together and that is priceless.