Keep The Holiday Spirit — Please!

Thanksgiving day parade.  Patriotism.  Christmas spirit. Since I was a very little girl, I noticed a sort of hypocrisy in all these things. Troops coming home?  Yeah, sure.  Try this — try shaking hands with a veteran, thanking him or her for putting on the green monkey suit and submitting to the arbitrary hierarchy that makes a military function.

I have shaken hands and said “thank you” to untold numbers of veterans.  But I can think of only one or two who ever shook my hand and thanked me, even when I told them specifically I was a veteran, too. How about this “Christmas spirit” thing.  Giving someone else the right of way on a road.  Being polite to each other. Polite??? I walk with a cane (some of the time) and nobody, but nobody, has given me a right of way on foot in the supermarket.  I find politeness and common courtesy at an all-time low when I am on foot.  We have one advantage over presidents — We do not have to plan photo opportunities.  How much easier, how much more consistent, if we get to be real. Hold the door for the person who needs a mobility aid to walk.  If it is me, I will say thank you. Throwing some food (canned) in collection bags is not a bad idea.   Giving to the charity you like is not a bad idea, but beware: Ever since the days when my Father-Of-Blessed-Memory played the organ for a pittance or nothing at “fund raisers,” I have known that any donations collected line the pockets of those raising funds more than those of the intended recipients. I applaud those who support those less fortunate than they, but you have every single right to know where your money is going. I write this thing because I really believe the world can and will get better if everyone gets real. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Be Good … and Smart.