My son has been working for McDonalds for the past year, pretty much full-time. He is scheduled to work a long shift on Christmas Eve. I was a bit miffed to learn that McDonalds does not pay its employees any holiday pay or provide any sort of bonus for working holidays. The stores are privately held franchises and the owner of the one where Kev works has 11 of them. I checked online to find out if this non-payment of holiday (time and a half) is a corporate policy or if the owner is just a cheapass tightwad. I discovered that good old Mickey Dee doesn't pay as their corporate policy.

I've learned a great deal about how America's icon, McDonald's, does business, from how the food is made and where they cut corners. I suppose in these economic hard times, everyone has to pinch the pennies, but some things one would hope would be good for all of us, like those corporations who have been the core of American culture in all our lives doing right by employees. For the most part, I don't think McDonalds leads by example. They are a sweat shop of young people who don't receive much incentive other than the one that leaves a kid thinking, "I better get my degree and get the hell outta here fast and move on..." and I suppose there is value in that lesson. My son definitely aspires for greater things having been working there.

I was speaking with a school colleague the other day who grew up during the times I did (oh, the good old days when girls were girls and men were men.. May I pause and break out in song?)

"Boy, the way Glen Miller played. Songs that made the Hit Parade. Guys like us, we had it made. Those were the days! And you knew where you were then! Girls were girls and men were men. Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again. Didn't need no welfare states. Everybody pulled his weight. Gee, our old LaSalle ran great. Those were the days! People seemed to be content. Fifty dollars paid the rent. Freaks were in a circus tent. Those were the days! Take a little Sunday spin, go to watch the Dodgers win. Have yourself a dandy day that cost you under a fin (five dollar bill). Hair was short and skirts were long. Kate Smith really sold a song. I don't know just what went wrong! Those Were the Days!"




When I grew up, they showed us in high school the statistics.... a high school graduate earns on average, x. If you get a bachelor's degree, you will improve your chances in income by this much, and masters, etc. But in reality, today, our kids are seeing unemployment and struggling professionals try to earn a living on a salary (yours truly, a doctorate, hard worker). Even doctors have shit to deal with... excessive Malpractice insurance costs, even attorneys... ones I know.... do more probono work and don't get rich easily. I personally know several fine friends facing bankruptcy who did "everything right" so to speak by playing by the rules in the business world and not getting the payoff we all hoped for as we walked down the commencement line to receive our degrees with sugarplums in our head (what's a sugarplum?) Just a buncha school loans and a whole hell of a lot of book smarts (which tends to alienate one from the social intercourse with folks who like to just have fun and not be so friggen academic... believe you me, that's my problem).

I am not a materialistic girl. But ya still gotta live and have the basics.

My children are products of their generation, which is highly tech and demands much money for staying abreast of the latest thing. Here it is Christmas and an Apple I-Touch, a tiny present to fit in one's palm is $189 on sale, times two kids, and that's just ONE present, per kid, just to get into the current year's technology. Do you know how long a person works at McDonald's at $7.50 per hour to buy an I-Touch? Alot. You know this, yourself; you are trying to stretch your dollars to pull off a Christmas.

This friend I was speaking with this week pondered, "What if there were no credit? What if we bought houses and cars without loans? We'd all be living within our means." Uh, yea, in mud huts, even the best of us.

Christmas has always been commercialized. It's about family, too... and most importantly, it's about celebrating the meaning of love through Christ... often forgotten amid so many competing priorities. Pause. Stop the madness. Who cares if you are wearing a new red sweater at Christmas Dinner... just be there for your loved ones. Take time to bake REAL cookies and make a meal of love. Another friend of mine just went to a fancy shmancy rich persons house for a Christmas party whereby they served Publix platters of ham sandwich circles and chips and salsa... C'mon! Put on your apron and chop veggies and whip up a family casserole, instead of serving store bought shit exclusively.

What is going on?

Understood that values can change, life situations change, we need to revise traditions. For me, divorced a year now, the thought of that bigass Christmas tree with the family memento ornaments makes me sad for what once was, but is no more. So I have a single mom's tiny 3 ft. tree with mini color-coordinated ornaments and modern fiber optic lights, recreating... making new traditions. This Christmas Eve I am cooking dinner for my family, including my ex-husband and ex-inlaw, plus I have invited my children's friends and their parents, plus those who I know will be alone that night and might enjoy a social gathering. My house is tiny, my budget small, but I am excited to make this new Christmas a warm one.

My home is filled with love and good food.