It's Crazy Out There!

By out there, I mean the highways, the malls, the restaurants, the entire world, it seems! I'm not going back out there until after Christmas. At least not unless I absolutely have to venture out to forage or gather food for my tribe. Nope, not going to get caught up in this insanity.

The parking lots at the malls are so full it is impossible to find a space. The amount of gas that is being expended by desperate shoppers trying to park their cars is probably twice the amount they will spend in the stores buying the multitude of presents they believe they must have for all the lucky individuals on their lists.

The highways are clogged (at least in Florida) with all the tourists escaping their inclement weather up north (boy did we fool them this week with temperatures in the 20's!). The tourists, being tourists, don't know where they are going and, because they are on vacation, are in no immediate hurry to get anywhere, unlike the rest of us who are on the clock and living in the real world.

The restaurants, well, don't get me started on them. I happen to live in Paradise. South Florida is so beautiful this time of year and the people who actually live here all the time are appreciative of the tourism for our state but hate to stand in line for hours at a time because of tourists.

My husband had an idea. All the people who live here all the time would have "I live here" cards that would take them to the front of the line in the restaurants they frequent during the lean times of the year when there are no tourists. The "I live here" cards would be given out during those summer months to patrons of restaurants who are steady customers. I thought it was a great idea. Much better than a "groupon" or some similar fish sounding coupon.

Perhaps at this time of year, going crazy is a normal thing to do. For those in business, crazy equals money spent, a good thing for them. For those still in economic distress (a lot of people), it is probably not a good thing. Credit cards come out and money is spent that shouldn't be spent.

The crazy world is doing what it does every single year at this time. It reminds me of lemmings. Those were unusual looking animals (rodents?) who followed each other off cliffs because that was where everyone else was going.

Perhaps if we all stayed home more, planned our ventures out to malls and restaurants better and more importantly, put on our very best behavior and were kind and polite to each other, maybe it wouldn't be so crazy out there and maybe it would be a bit more Merry!

Anyway, that's my plan and I'm sticking to it. Home is where the heart is and it's where I am until after Santa's big retail day. The "reason for the season" they say is because of a great gift given to mankind. Buying presents in stores to obsession is not exactly how this great gift was supposed to be translated. But then, that's just my own personal opinion, me, the person who's staying home. This is where my gifts are, the furry ones, who love unconditionally and the husband who only asks for a hug, a kiss and a hot meal at the end of his long day. In all this craziness, I think we've forgotten we already have all the gifts we really need.