Wake me up when X-mas is over

Posing at Central Mall on Kenilworth Street North just after church

Does this sound familiar? X-mas does not sound great like it used to. I keep on listening to these monotonous x-mas sounds over and over again and yet still feel burdened or out hastled by big corporations and their retailer cousins to depart with my hard earned few bucks in my possession!! Economists are spitting out their usual unsubstantiated crap that we are spending more because of a good economy, stable interest rates, increase in wages and mbu decrease in unemployment. If you live here, it is definately obvious our increased household expenses aren't as a result of the above. Decrease in unemployment? Are these folks smoking something we don't know about? With daily bad news of Corporate outsourcing, downsizing, mergers, closures and bankrupcies how could we be so illusional!!

I wonder if they have heard of the economic turmoil in the manufacturing industry lately. Does Rheem Industries ring a bell? What about Stelco, DAFASCO, General Motors or RBG to mention but a few!! Helllloo, Dafasco and Stelco alone contribute to 35% of Hamilton's labour market. Our household gross income has remained constant and yet it changed after all statutory deductions, in other words, our net household income has suffered a decrease! That right there disputes the analysits argument that we are earning more and that unemployment has decreased. Jesus, most of us bottomed out folks are maxing up our cards and that there is no reason to give a thumbs up to our economy, even I know that!!!

I figure inflation has something to do with it or gas prices hiking up production and delivery costs. We are going to spend more because toys for example are costing more and yet these damn corporations are relentlessly bombarding our kids with persuasive advertisements for the latest toy in town. Can you believe this, Faith comes home a couple of days ago with a flyer from her kindergarten, with the X-box 360 worth $700 gigantically circled by some adult MBU THAT IS HER GIFT WISH TO POOR SANTA...go figure. Santa ain't coming here this time around, come to think about it, we gat no furnace!! I am going to sleep, wake me up when these holidays are over

Ciao