Whew...

             So, after the craziness that was last week I thought perhaps we should take a breath and pause for a moment as it were.  From Turkey Day to Black Friday to Cyber Monday.  What an orgy of consumption. Whew.  Glad that's done.  It seems to bring out the worst in us.  I feel like we all need a good shower and to go to bed and think about how we all behave.  So, what's the emotional equivalent of alka-seltzer?

Seriously, anyone?

             Hmm, well barring anything better, perhaps the good old  standby of some gratitude for the universe.  So here's my latest round of much too belated thank yous.

               Thank you.   Thanks to  all those people whose jobs make them have to be available on holidays- nurse, doctors, waiters in restaurants open on holidays, kitchen staff in nursing homes, policeman and fireman and all those who sign up for the job knowing they will be at work or on call on Christmas and New Years and every other weekend and holiday. It's often not fair, but you never show it and often make other families holidays possible at all.   And especially thank you to those who should not have ever been asked to work on a holiday.  To all the retail workers and shift workers who have to not spend a holiday with their families because of someone else's greed.  It is DEFINITELY not fair and you deserve better.  (Personally, I am boycotting any store that was open on Thanksgiving until waaayy after the holidays perhaps permanently.  I don't want you to do well, you bunch of Scrooges.  My dollar may not count for much, but I sure as hell am gonna vote with it)  And to those stores who did choose to stay closed on Thanksgiving, THANKS, it's nice to see businesses act with some class. 

              And speaking of class, thank you to all those who work paid and unpaid for non-profits.  Whether anyone agrees or disagrees with your cause or charity, you are working with your heart and soul to try to make things better and that says something good about your intentions and soul.  I especially want to thank those who work for organizations who do e-activism.  You guys work really hard, for free or smaller salaries than a corporation would offer, all so annoying nags like me can try to do our part and make the world a better place.  With every petition I sign or link I post, I think of you guys who made it possible for me to have it so easy.  I don't even get out of my pjs or put down my coffee, to do my part.  Thank you so much.

                 And thanks to all those people in government service who work really hard and never get thanks from anyone.  When you mess up, everyone rides you forever and never lets anyone forget.  But when you do well, things run so smoothly , we don't even notice you are there. Meanwhile, the legislators, who work way less than you and get paid more, act like you are incompetent to make each other look bad.   I don't why you are all not bitter.  But time and again, you simply do your damn job without asking for thanks.  Thank you for making civilization run smoothly.

                  Most especially, thank you to volunteers who work in soup kitchens and homeless shelters and hospitals and places like Ronald McDonald House.  Thankfully, I don't know what it's like to be on the streets, but I do know what its like to be suddenly hours away from home with no real place to stay or idea of where to go for a meal or a shower or a bed.  Leaving a hospital after a reallllly long day of watching your kid be seriously ill and then finding a quiet room with a bed is like finding Shangri-La. 

                   More than anything though, thank you Universe.  Thank you for being wild and wacky and awesome.  And most of all, thank you Universe, for the fact that we were not in a hospital or Ronald McDonald House or crazy mall or ambulance or any of those places that have to stay open on holidays.   Thank you for arranging it that I got to stay at home and whine about cooking and the loud cats and my nutty family.  It was a good holiday.  And thank you for reading this.