For all of you who haven't quite caught on yet: no, today is not the First Day of Christmas. For that, you have to wait another 12 days. You're going to have to be patient. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, go here and find out. If you're disappointed, well, sorry, somebody had to tell you sometime.
What's often fascinated me the most about this joyous season of the year is that there are many, many businesses that generate 75% or more of their revenues during these few weeks. What do they do the rest of the year? If they're in retail, do they just wait around for customers who never come, paying rent on space they're not really using, paying employees who aren't really doing anything? I'd be the last person to fire the people. I think these companies should continue to pay the employees, close down the store, and re-open when it's worth it. And are there still factories cranking out stuff year round even though they're only going to unload it at the very end of the year? How inefficient is that? What kind of bonuses do those CEOs get?
Are you starting to get the hint that maybe -- just maybe -- some of the stuff we do -- and place so much value on -- are simply, well, nonsensical?
We're strange creatures, we human beings. Recently, I (re-)read a quote from Charles Darwin: "It is not the strongest or most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change." Personally, I think he's right on this one. And then I see us buzzing around in our pre-Christmas frenzy, doing the same things as the year before, causing the same problems as the year before, buying the same junk as the year before, giving it to the same people as the year before, or, if I'm a business, finally greeting those same customers as the year before, or receiving the same orders as the year before, and counting my money as the year before, and I start wondering what it means if Chuck was right. If he is, we're doomed.
OK, I'll admit it: I think we're doomed anyway, and it's not Christmas all by itself that is going to be our undoing. No, it's deeper than that. Christmas is just one of the many examples of how human beings do the same thing over and over again but expect different results. That, according to Einstein -- no intellectual slacker -- is the definition of insanity.
As far as I'm concerned, Christmas is as good a reason as any to be jolly. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la, but watching the scene play out, I have to admit that I do wonder a bit about our sanity. There's a big difference between feeling merry and simply being out there where the busses don't run.
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