{"id":782,"date":"2013-11-30T09:10:48","date_gmt":"2013-11-30T14:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.townehouse.net\/phoenix\/?p=782"},"modified":"2013-11-30T09:10:48","modified_gmt":"2013-11-30T14:10:48","slug":"traditions-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=782","title":{"rendered":"Traditions Lost"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Christmas<\/a>I for one am greatly disturbed by the way we as a society have turned the Christmas holiday season into a two month (or longer) buying and selling marathon. It seems that each year the Christmas ads appear earlier and earlier. This year it started before Halloween. That means two months of Christmas blitz coming at us daily in the form of newspapers, television, radio, and directed adds from the internet. I think this ad blitz causes anxiety in adults and especially in children. The longer the ad season, the greater is the anxiety that is experienced. No wonder some many children get sick right before the holidays.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This year we took another step down the path of crass commercialism with the black Friday becoming black Thursday. Thursday, I course being Thanksgiving was always one of those great family holidays when the family would gather for a great meal, and an evening of togetherness and love. Not anymore. Now we have to time the dinner and the time spent together so that it does not interfere with the shopping plans. We now squeeze what used to be an all-day event into a couple of hours so folks can eat and run to the local Wal-Mart or Target or K-Mart or wherever to take advantages of the discounted (and not so discounted) items being offered. It is not only the shoppers who are losing out spending time with family, it is also those who are required to leave family on this holiday and go to work. For those who are not buying or selling, the rest are left alone at home. But this gives them plenty of time to reminisce how Thanksgiving used to be.<\/p>\n

Where do we go from here? Next year will the stores open at 6:00 AM? Next year will the Thanksgiving dinner have to be times to allow for early morning shopping? Then it might be easier to postpone the Thanksgiving dinner to the next day, or the day before and that will be the demise of the traditional family Thanksgiving Holiday. This all came about of course due to the commercialization of Christmas. Christmas is and always will be a Christian Holy Day. The buying of gives represents the gifts given to the Christ Child by the three Wise Men. So it is supposed to be a remembrance, not a season of frenzied buying and selling. I know, I probably sound like an old fogey or a Scrooge trying to take the joy out of the season. But the truth is, it is just the opposite. I think the joy of both Thanksgiving and Christmas is the time spent with family. Not buying and selling and commercialism.<\/p>\n

I am a realist. I know things are not going to change back to the way they were in simpler times. I am only hoping we can all look at where we are and where we are going and try to slow down, try to remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas. As I recall, the true meaning is not PROFIT. I am working on a new Christmas Carol. \u201cWe three kings of Orient are, heading to Wal-Mart to fill up our car\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I for one am greatly disturbed by the way we as a society have turned the Christmas holiday season into a two month (or longer) buying and selling marathon. It seems that each year the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_daextrevo_audio_file_creation_date":"","_daextrevo_text_to_speech":"","_daextrevo_document_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/THFI.png?fit=214%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12885,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=12885","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":0},"title":"Christmas \u2013 2019","author":"Tom Lind","date":"December 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"To my family and friends and all other readers of the Townehouse, here are a few thoughts I have had about Christmas over the past few days.\u00a0 I would like to share them with all of you.\u00a0 Sharing this article with you is my Christmas present to you all.\u00a0 I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/merry-christmas-2019-text-with-elegant-vector-22962599.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12893,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=12893","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":1},"title":"Merry Every Day!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"December 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Christmas for 2019 has come and gone.\u00a0 Wow, that was quick.\u00a0 I know that some folks enjoy an extended Christmas season.\u00a0 Some based on their religious preferences enjoy the Christmas season on into the first week of January.\u00a0 But not at our house.\u00a0 The boss lady, who loves Christmas and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ChristmasTreeDown.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11941,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=11941","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":2},"title":"Ghosts of Christmas Past","author":"Tom Lind","date":"December 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I am sure that everyone has seen some rendition of \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d. I have seen many versions over many years. So when I speak of Ghosts from Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future you will have a notion of what I am talking about. My Ghosts of Christmas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nostalgia"","block_context":{"text":"Nostalgia","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/painting-repro-font-b-Christmas-b-font-font-b-Village-b-font-Guaranteed-100-Free-shipping.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/painting-repro-font-b-Christmas-b-font-font-b-Village-b-font-Guaranteed-100-Free-shipping.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/painting-repro-font-b-Christmas-b-font-font-b-Village-b-font-Guaranteed-100-Free-shipping.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/painting-repro-font-b-Christmas-b-font-font-b-Village-b-font-Guaranteed-100-Free-shipping.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":291,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=291","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":3},"title":"What Are You Giving For Christmas?","author":"Tom Lind","date":"December 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This time of the year is all about giving and getting. Many merchants are finally operating in the black and they get the gift of staying open for another year. Frequently you ask, or will be asked, \"what are you getting for Christmas this year?\" Depending on who you ask,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"What Are You Giving For Christmas?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/sadchristmas-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":300,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=300","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":4},"title":"Merry Christmas!","author":"Tom Lind","date":"December 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I want to take this opportunity and to use this venue to wish all who read this a very Merry Christmas. Just in case you are wondering, I am not sitting in front of my computer writing this article on Christmas morning. What type of a grinch do you think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"Peace On Earth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/nativity-siloutte080-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1216,"url":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?p=1216","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":5},"title":"Christmas Elves Threaten National Security","author":"Tom Lind","date":"December 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In the past, the Townehouse phoenix has provided expose\u00b4 articles regarding common Christmas traditions that most take for granted. In the past the real story behind Rudolph and Frosty were brought to you first by the Phoenix. In keeping with the tradition of past Christmases, the Townehouse Phoenix, as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Humor"","block_context":{"text":"Humor","link":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"evilelf","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/townehouse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/evilelf-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p38YRh-cC","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townehouse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}