This morning as I veered around a garbage truck I saw the homeowner run out and hand the garbage men envelopes.  They all smiled and it made me wish I could make someone’s day like that.

I wish I could afford to just pass out gifts to the unsung heroes in my life - the service personnel that fly under the radar but without whom our lives would truly suck: the garbage men, the postal workers, the volunteer firemen, Steve Jobs, etc.  I suppose I can, but I feel like giving them $5 isn’t all that appreciated.  Perhaps I could bake them cookies, but they probably get a lot of that, right?  Plus, the logistics just don’t work out because I’m at work while they’re all passing by my house. Blah. “It’s the thought that counts” just doesn’t warm my heart the way an action would.

Some parents are certifiably insane - but mostly I blame Mary for giving birth to Santa Claus* a couple thousand years ago.  None of this madness would exist if it weren’t for that.




*That’s the story, right? There was no room at the Holiday Inn so Mary had to go to the Super 8 down the road and then she pooped out jolly old Santa Claus and then he grew up and the Jews killed him and now he comes back every December and gives presents to everyone except the Jews…?