Merry Christmas!?

The Saturday Edition of the Winnipeg Fress Press glowed..."Spend, Spend, Spend."

Here is the article (edited a bit by moi)

"VISA Canada spokeswoman Tania Freedman said the credit card company predicted 300 VISA transactions would take place every second between 2 and 4 p.m. Friday across Canada. Managers of Winnipeg's two largest malls endorsed that scenario.

"We had line-ups for gift cards at 9:30 (Friday) morning, and with many people getting off work earlier, we expect it to be busier (Friday) afternoon," said Deborah Green, manager of Polo Park.

"Typically, the 23rd is the busiest shopping day, but when Christmas falls on a Monday, we found that the 22nd is the busiest," Freedman said.

Retailers across the city were scrambling to serve shoppers Friday.

Scotiabank predicted that individual Manitobans will spend an average of $825 for the Christmas season, slightly above the Canadian average of $822 per person. The Scotiabank Holiday Spending study found Canadians on the whole will spend less this year than last year.
The Scotiabank study found that the biggest spenders will be in Atlantic Canada, where per person spending is expected to be $1,049; the lowest individual spending is expected to be in Quebec, with an average of $626.

Robinson and other retailers said Winnipeggers are spending more this season than they have in the past. Robinson said December sales generally account for 15 to 20 per cent of the year's gross receipts.

"Last year was our best season and we're up over last year," Robinson said.
Green said Polo Park merchants told her that they were expecting sales to be higher this year compared to last year.

Tineke Buiskool-Leeuwma, marketing director at St. Vital Centre, said retailers at the south-end mall have been busy since November. Business has picked up every day as Christmas approached. "People started shopping earlier this year," Buiskool-Leeuwma said, adding that malls were open to 11 p.m. Friday and will be open to 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

Green said Polo Park merchants said they haven't seen any panic buying this year, with their customers also starting shopping earlier.

"Our stores have been reporting fantastic sales, but there's no panic in shoppers like in previous years," Green said. "Maybe it's the weather ... There's little snow and driving conditions are good and it's not freezing out ... but all the shoppers seem happy. They're in a good mood and everyone's spending money."

Freedman said VISA Canada's annual Christmas shopping survey found that shoppers expect to spend $20 billion this year, up from the $19.5 billion predicted last year. She said that post-Christmas surveys historically found shoppers underestimate how much they'll spend by 10 to 15 per cent.

Freedman said plastic is the most common form of payment: 44 per cent of Canadians will use their debit cards; 30 per cent will use credit cards. She said 24 per cent of Canadian shoppers will use cash.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

This was a great article by Aldo! But when it comes to Christmas, I ask a simple question....what for? What is all this for? I do not want to sound like a scrooge....maybe I do.....wait, I guess I must only be happy if I am spending money on something that no one really needs or wants.

What for? I guess this is what Christmas is all about!?!

Computers

So, I think this image says it all!
I had a crash last Friday and I am still in the process of getting the thing fixed....I hate computers....but I love them too.
So, I really don't have anything deep to say other than my post about coffee is really amazing! I mean the responses are...I never for a moment thought that you would respond the way you all are. It is as if something that 'trite' (in my eyes at the time) hit a nerve for many. How about we shed the mug and coffee image and talk about reality?

Thoughts?

COFFEE

This was sent to me and is too good not to share with you all!

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." God brews the coffee, not the cups..... Enjoy your coffee! "The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.
You are the miracle, my friend,
Your life either shines a light - or casts a shadow.
Thoughts?