This past Friday I had a lazy day filled with leftovers, a leisurely run and a long car drive with good music back to Oxford. It wasn’t until I had to take an exit around Jackson for a pit stop that I realized my peaceful Friday was actually Black Friday. The exit ramp and every lane of traffic emanating from traffic lights off my exit were congested with bumper to bumper SUVs filled to the brim with the occupants’ spoils of Black Friday sales.
Perhaps it was the juxtaposition of my tranquil morning to the frenzied, honking mass of cars, but I couldn’t help feeling sickened at the scene that unfolded before me. Of the piles of shopping bags in each car, how many were filled with items that the drivers truly needed? How many dollars were being spent simply to keep up with the Joneses? How many parents were diving further into debt to give their kid an updated Wii to replace their existing one that is working just fine?
Over the past few years, I’ve greatly downsized my Christmas. By slowly chipping away at the “corporate” aspect of Christmas, I find myself having a happier holiday season.
It started in undergraduate when my boyfriend at the time and I decided we were not going to exchange gifts. We had dated for years, and each year resulted in a bigger gift than the year before. We honestly couldn’t think of anything we needed and didn’t want to spend an exorbitant amount of money just for the sake of having something to open. Instead, we went in together and adopted a local family through a charity. The saying “it is better to give than it is to receive” could not ring truer than anonymously giving to a family who would otherwise not have a Christmas at all.
During my first year of law school and without a job for the first time in years, my bank account was deep in the red. I felt it would be wrong to use the money dad had loaned me, just to buy him a Christmas present that he probably didn’t need anyway. Out of desperation, I gave him three “coupons” to hang out with me. Each coupon guaranteed one full day of quality time together, no phones, no work, just him and me. Yes, you should do that anyway, but between our busy schedules we just never made the time. The coupons were binding that we would make that time.
Going on a now three year tradition he’s cashed in coupons to take me on a day long ride on his motorcycle, dove hunts, being his “apprentice” for odd jobs around the house and a variety of other things that we may have never done together. While the handmade, cheesy coupons cost almost nothing to make, the value of the gift that we both received through them cannot be put into words.
I encourage you to take a long hard look at your Christmas list. What is it that you really need this holiday season? If you are like me and put happiness on your list, it might take a little more creativity than hitting Black Friday sales because happiness certainly isn’t found on any store shelf.
Anna Rush is a law student from Hattiesburg. She graduated from Mississippi State University in 2011.
