Its December. Christmas time. The time of year when we're all supposed to think about our fellow man. This must be some kind of hipocritical joke, or something. As far as I can tell, Christmas time is all about me. (I'm not saying "me" meaning myself, just in a general sense.) You know what I mean. With most people its not "its better to give than receive", its just the opposite. They look forward to getting the gifts for what they might contain, not for the thought behind them. (Starting to ramble, focus Chinook. Focus.)
Ok. As far as looking forward to getting gifts, instead of giving them, everyone truly does this. Wether, or not, we admit it. There is just a certain satisfaction in having someone think enough of you to go to the trouble of getting something just for you. Or is it because they think that they'll feel guilty if they don't get a gift for you on the chance that you got one for them? Personally, I like to believe the former, since I generally tend to see the good in people. (At least the people I know. Others, well, I'll get to that in a little bit.) But, I think, that this is something everyone has a different opinion on.
And, from what I can tell, it gets worse every year. I mean, this year I started seeing Christmas decorations (in the PX) and advertisements (on AFN) right after Halloween. I can remember when stuff like that wouldn't start before December 1st. Then, over the years, it slipped to right after Thanksgiving. (Remember, this is all from an American's point of view.) And now, it starts after Halloween. So, basically, for 2 months we are bombarded with stuff telling us that we need to get gifts for other people. And, by insinuation, we should expect them in return. When did we get this bad?
I know that all of this seems extremely negative, but here is a good point to bring up. There are times I believe that noone expects the return you get from giving to be a gift. I don't know how many of my 3 readers have kids, (Well, I do know about 2 of you.) but they are of of the universal joys in this world. When you give a present to your kids, and see their faces light up when its opened. That is all that you ever need to get from them. You never expect anything more, and everything that the world can throw at you can never change that. Then, they get older, and start paying attention to what their friends get, and all of the ads on TV. And, slowly, ever so slowly, they start to lose that joy they once had. Its sad, really. But we only remember when they were younger, and that makes all the difference to me.
Then, there is fellow man stuff. I don't know how other people will look on me for this, but, if I don't know you, I don't really care what happens to you. I don't have the time, or inclination to care about people that don't concern me. (This is why people I know call me a cold hearted bastard, and I admit its very true.) Then, on top of this, I have a strict order of precedence on how much I may care. It goes like this: Family(there are a few friends in this category too); Friends; US Soldiers; Other US Military; Americans; then everyone else has to scramble for a spot. This doesn't mean that if someone I didn't know got in an accident, or had a heart attack, right in front of me that I wouldn't try to help. I would, but only because it would be the right thing to do, not because I cared.
Sorry about that, I didn't mean to get all sinical. And I'm not in a bad mood. I guess it was just one of those times to vent. That does happen once in a while. I'll try to keep it to a minimum in the future. Anyway, to end on a happy note, in 19 days I get to go back to Tennesse to see my kids for Christmas. I get to be with them for just over 2 weeks, and I am looking forward to it. During that time there won't be any updates, my time will be for them and the other memebers of my family I will be seeing with them.
As always, I'll see ya'll later.
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