I was riding into work yesterday and passed a sight I still can't believe. At first, it looked totally normal, two men were working on ladders to remove some Christmas lights from a house. Then I got a little closer and noticed that there was a truck parked in front of this house, with what must have been a twenty foot trailer on it, full of Christmas decorations: wreaths, garlands, lights, etc. When I passed the truck pulling the trailer, there was a magnetic sign on the side saying something like so and so's Christmas Decorating Service. What! Do people actually have enough money that they are willing to pay a service to decorate their house for Christmas? I guess this is the ultimate attempt to keep up with the Jones'. I was passing through a ritzy area at the time, so if I stop and think about it, I shouldn't really be shocked. Still, it does say something about our culture. There are people without enough food in this country nor proper shelter, not to mention the quality of life for people in other countries, and some people have to settle for having their houses decorated, by someone else, for a holiday.
1 comments
I thought of a positive twist to this incident. My hunch is that this business began because some enterprising individual in a warm weather career—perhaps in construction or road work, saw an opportunity to make some money in his/her off season and advertised the service. It worked, and others followed suit. While it may feel like squandering money that could go to better use, it may also be providing income for someone who might otherwise be on unemployment benefits.