I don’t do holidays. At this time in my life, I am not the person to celebrate with. There several good reasons that I don’t do holidays but for this column I’ll only write about one reason.
I don’t do holidays because of wishes and expectations.
I have a problem of looking at things via the big picture. Most people see holidays in the way that Walmart and other devilish retailers want them to see holidays. They jack up the prices of products so you can think you are saving money on a “sale”.
Beast merchants constantly encourage you to buy things that you don’t want and to give gifts that you don’t need to give.
But I know what is important. The act of giving is always better than any gift received!
However, people want what they want. African Americans want name brands. They want what marketers tell them to want. They want fast cars, designer clothes, exotic fragrances, romantic vacations, Swiss time pieces,
Belgium chocolates, big jewels and more to insure a happy holiday.
Yes, Black people want what they want. In my mind, sometimes what they want is crazy!
When my international business outlook became brighter I decided I wanted to share my business blessings with my loved ones.
I went to close family members and asked them what I could do for them when my money got right.
Well, they all were working for beast bosses and I told them to come and work with, not for, me. I told them whatever their current salary was I would double their pay but they all declined. I told them if they had a good, solid business plan I would finance a business for them but again they declined. I told them I would teach them to generate money the way that I did but no, they didn’t want that.
Why? Well, one of my kids had a good answer. She said daddy, I have my own dreams I want to pursue and I would never ask family or anyone to give up on their dreams.
Others said, I was “too mean, too strict or too militant” because I told them they had to be professional, that had to perform and they had to be able to deliver in order to be on my pay roll!
Soon, I got off of the job stuff and asked my loved ones what did they want and some answers I got blew my mind!
Somebody wanted the newest, smartest and most expensive cell phone. Another wanted car accessories like tires, rims, and multiple TV monitors in the car they drove even though they couldn’t watch TV and drive at the same time.
No loved one would turn down cash though. If they had enough money they could buy whatever they wanted.
But money couldn’t curb their angst at me because they wanted what they wanted when they wanted it, not when I wanted to give it to them!
Anyway, holidays are just another day to me. I live alone. No relatives live in the city where I live. I’m not in a serious or significant relationship and my “friends” are rightly thinking about their families and loved ones and not so much about me.
Holidays are celebrated with food and beverages. Well, I don’t eat or drink a lot. I’m not a big party person. And, when the party gets crunk and cracking around the midnight hour, I’m usually in bed sleep and would never get up to go out.
There is another side of holidays that must be acknowledged. There is eating, drinking, dancing, gift giving, song singing and Christmas mistletoe kissing but there are also cases of murder and mayhem!
When the alcohol flows sometimes the sensibility goes. People cheat at the office Christmas party, they fight in the store openings on Black Friday, they also fuss, fight, and cuss and argue on holidays. People sometimes get killed and people sometimes kill themselves by suicide, by overdose or by accident.
No, I don’t do holidays very well but I sincerely wish all of the readers of The Gantt Report a peaceful, prosperous, purposeful and happy holiday season!
Maybe Santa will bring me a little cat this holiday season to change my scrooge mentality and put a smile on my face (just kidding)!
Enjoy your holiday whatever your preferred holiday is. (Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” onAmazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net. And, if you want to,“Like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook.)
Lucius is a contributing columnist to NNPA newspapers around the nation, and the author of “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” available on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere.