To me, a person who appreciates the natural order of things, it seems right that Thanksgiving proceeds Christmas. Why? Because it gets me thinking of the things I’m grateful for. What I have. Provide for others. It makes me extra cognizant of excess and how so many, myself included, have gotten caught up in that.
Then came the problems (is that a strong enough word) with the economy. With them, things changes. Priorities shifted, in a good way, I believe. People began funneling the energy and time they did have towards more simplistic basic goals/needs.
Just a couple of years back, I was surprised to see a good number of kids riding gas-powered scooters, instead of manually powering themselves along. I didn’t quite see the point, as I’ve always liked exercising, especially as a kid. There was also the lack of kids walking to and from school, affording them the opportunity to strengthen friendships with others as they conversed. Instead, the majority of kids were driven to and from school by parents regardless of if they lived just around the corner.
But all that changed when priorities got shifted due to the economy troubles. Many families had to switch to dual income households, and that was for the lucky ones, those who could actually find jobs to pay their bills. Now I’m going to go out on an unpopular limb here and say that there have been some good things, which have resulted from the downfall of the economy.
I no longer see kids riding gas-powered scooters in our neighborhood. Those who are out and about are now on skateboards or good old-fashioned scooters. I regularly see kids riding their bikes or out walking to and from school with clusters of friends. I believe these are improvements, for they are allowing kids to be just that—kids who are more than capable of finding ways to entertain themselves without needing go gobble up excessive amounts of money, electricity, etc. in the process.
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