Well, another Christmas has come and gone.
There seems to be a lot of controversy over Christmas these days, what with municipalities having to take down decorations, and businesses having to decide whether to say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas.
A more important consideration in my view is how your friends react to you not being able to afford presents that match the value of their gifts the previous year.
Having been relatively well off for a season, followed by a season of being broke (at a couple of times in my life,) I can tell you that particular sequence of events can be an extremely valuable experience.
It tends to shake out the fair-weather friends from the true friends.
During one particular sequence of events of this variety, a friend who had been very poor while I had been well off, found himself in the reverse position, and despite my inability to reciprocate over an indefinitely long period of time, found it in his heart to ensure that I never went a week without being taken out for dining and entertainment.
It is easy to have friends when you have money, but a friend who comes around when coming around will definitely cost money, and continues to come around, is a friend who values you for non-material reasons. This is a true friend.
The problem with Christmas is not that there is a lot of gift-giving involved, it’s that so many people see it only in terms of gift-giving, and receiving.
I can count my true friends on one hand, with no fingers left over. Some people will say that is a reason for sadness. My own observations lead me to believe that is an astronomically large number of true friends, and I say that is a reason for sadness.
Gift-giving should be incidental to the season. If it isn’t, you may need to examine your friendship selection process.
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