Oprah and the Christmas Gift

For years I have been buying the toy for the needy child at Christmas. This year I didn’t. There have been a couple of things that have made me rethink this practice. First, media reports of Oprah giving a large sum of money to a family where the father has cancer. The second, my daughter came home with a gift card to buy something for a special needs kid. Now, buying something for a 12 year old ‘normal’ kid is hard enough. But how do I buy something for a ‘special needs’ kid that I know nothing about?

As to Oprah, my first reaction was that the money would have been better spent on donating to cancer research. That way, she potentially helps all cancer sufferers, not just this one. And the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. In this case, one family got $250,000. Where does that leave every other family in a similar situation? Why this family in particular, and why cancer when there are other situations as bleak, if not more so? Do we want the situation where those who receive charity are determined by lottery, a screening committee, or some other process that determines who wins the prize - or perhaps what is judged to bring the best media ratings?

As for the  Christmas toy. Again, as I walk into the stores near Christmas I still see tags waiting to be taken. So again the charities will need to determine who gets Santa and who misses out. I’m glad I’m not the one that makes the choice. Another, perhaps cynical observation. There is clearly something in this form of charity for the retailers - it obviously does not hurt their bottom line. And that, for me, is part of the issue.

We live in a culture that has commercialised Christmas to the extent that it must really help alienate many of those who already feel they are on the margins of society. What pain the parent who struggles to make a simple Christmas for their kids must go through. And what of the kids themselves who miss out on many of the things that others take for granted all year round feel at this time of year?

There is another form of gift available at this time of year from some of the charities. I saw one the other day that allowed me to purchase basic school supplies for a child. Now while this may not be as ‘sexy’ as a new doll or model car, what value is there in a good education?

I know that toys are important to kids and I am not opposed to the idea of giving them to the less fortunate. But the idea of selecting a toy or other gift for an unknown child is really guess work. It is difficult enough buying something for someone you know well let alone a complete stranger. Really, I have no idea as to its suitability.

Perhaps there is an alternative, and that is to resist the commercialisation of Christmas. If we were to simplify Christmas and give more of what we would save by doing so to organisations working to better our world - whether it be medical research, charities that help people to stand on their own two feet, or other good cause - more would experience the spirit of Christmas. And perhaps the Christmas spirit would be experienced all year round.

Contemporary O Come All Ye Faithful

O come all ye faithful
Empty out your wallets
O come ye, O come ye to consumerville
Stretch all your credit cards out to the max
O come let us adore it
O come let us adore it
O come let us adore all this worthless landfill

The Christmas Tree Concert

My favourite memory of primary school is the annual Christmas tree concert. Palmers Channel public school was a one teacher school with probably no more than 30 pupils. This was one of the three highlights of the year for the small farming community - the others being the annual swimming carnival and Sunday School Anniversary.

This was nothing like the speech nights that we insist on inflicting on the kids of today - and ourselves. I have no recollection of academic awards (and I would have got one if they were handed out), sports awards (no way would I have landed one of these), citizenship awards (I’ll let you guess), or any other such thing. And we did not appoint school captains or prefects - these were unheard of.

Instead, we practiced our Christmas Carols and plays for ages and on the night presented these to the audience - that included more than parents and grandparents. Some of us presented individual items - songs, piano performances etc. But the highlight of the night came later.

Each year my grandfather would go out to Chaney Water Hole and cut down a pine tree. It seems now that this must have been at least 10 feet tall - but remember this is a childhood memory. The tree was erected in the playground and decorated.

Santa came and gave every kid a present - and we took great delight in guessing who Santa really was. On this occasion no one insisted we eat the ‘proper’ food first - it was straight into the cakes and sweets of which there was an abundance. Every kid got an ice block out of the big canvas bag that was kept cold with dry ice and soft drink flowed by the bucket load.

This was about fun, not performance. Every kid was involved and every kid took something home. There was no star - the kid who makes a clean sweep of the awards, or at least gets more than their fair share. And there was no kid who missed out, left with the disappointment of not getting any recognition.

But then again, I grew up in a community - a community that was not about competition but mate ship. For those farmers knew they had to rely on each other and that they could only survive if they helped each other out. I can’t help wondering that in our pursuit of material prosperity we have forgotten that at the end of the day our survival still depends on the strength of community and our willingness to support each other.

Coke's Iconic Santa

It seems appropriate that the image we have of Santa Clause today is a creation of the Coco-Cola company.

• The original Coca-Cola Santa was used to promote the sales of Coke in winter.
• Today, Santa magically appears in shopping centres in the lead up to Christmas. Santa is most readily accessible to kids in these places where they can sit on his lap, tell him their Christmas wishes - the fulfilment of which will be found in the nearby stores - see reindeer, and lots of Santa's helpers. And, of course, Santa walks around handing out lollies. Santa continues to encourage consumption.
• With his 'little round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly' Santa has the appearance of opulence so valued by the consumer society.
• Santa comes to good boys and girls. Maybe we should say he comes to the children of good mums and dads. Hard work brings its rewards, and the more 'good' we are, the better we are rewarded. These 'good boys and girls' get lots of good things from Santa, and the 'more good' their parents the more they tend to get.
• What about the kids from poor families - the single parent, unemployed, etc.? While there will always be those that sponge off the system, there are many who are in genuine need of support. And regardless of the parent's situation, the kids are not there because of choice. Still, according to the myth, they cannot be 'good' because if they were, then Santa would reward them as well. Maybe, as they grow up, they will study hard, learn to work hard, and become 'good' servants of the free market, capitalistic economy.
• It is, after all, the economic system that rewards those who serve it, and the better we serve it the better we are rewarded.

It seems ironic that in the same shopping centres we often see another Christmas icon - the nativity scene. And while we see the three wise men that brought their gifts of gold,  incense and myrrh we also see the carpenter and his bride - with the child conceived outside wedlock - and the shepherds - good working class people. As for the baby, when he became an adult he identified so readily with those at the margins of society.

Two icons of Christmas. One leaves me feeling cynical. The other I find compelling.

If you're interested in the story of Coco-Cola and Santa, you will see it here

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_santa.html