Gimmicks

“Silver bells, silver bells!  It’s Christmas time in the city!” That’s how the song goes.  However, I didn’t hear a single bell yesterday while shopping in The City, not even a Salvation Army bell-ringer.  I guess bells are obsolete.  Even the recorded ones we used to hear amplified from church steeples.

I DID confront a multitude of overpriced gimmicks and do-dads, though. Glitzy and cute, these were everywhere, evidences that we’re already saturated with possessions and really don’t need much.  They prove our culture now expects hard-working marketers to entice us with STUFF. 

Check out this push-button gizmo programmed with a pirate voice to add enchantment to any occasion (“Ahoy me maties”…“Shiver me timbers!”), and these crackers made with ordinary ingredients that commanded a high price because of their name. 

Personally, I prefer the dark ages of my youth when I was excited to find a super-sized apple and orange in the toe of my stocking, a rolled-up coloring book and 8-pack of brightly colored Crayola crayons above them, and the inevitable candy cane sticking over the top.  The memories of such uncomplicated, inexpensive pleasures hold a certain charm, and call me back to simplicity that satisfies.