The annual bleg

Remember when, things were different then? Lo, these many years ago, when there was a season I looked forward to all year. Alas, decades of deregulation and tax cuts threw our economy into the shitter and left the national savings account badly overdrawn. I was a victim, no recession has ever hit me like this. In no time I went from comfortable to trying to survive on a 12 dollar an hour job with no viable path to a living wage. It basically turned Christmas into another bill I couldn’t afford. Fortunately, I have some really kind readers who changed that when they pitched a few bucks into this week’s annual bleg.

I am technically poor (Wow, it’s weird to actually write that), at least for now, and readers here aren’t exactly collecting dancing horses. But enough has already come that I was able to get afford a groupon for a great deal on a tablet! Now, obviously it’s not an iPad, or even a super expensive device with every feature, but I like the model and needed one bad. I’ll post more details when it arrives.

The thing is, I underestimated how it would hit me emotionally … Maybe it’s the consumer stimulus vs reward drilled into me over the years by a commercial culture, like a hamster nosing that button for fix, or more likely the effect of any luxury on someone who has gone without for a bit. But just that one act of shopping, playing with various devices, and then ordering something nice for myself after so long made me feel the holiday spirit more than I have in three years. All morning I’ve felt excited, like I used to around Christmas — can’t wait to play with it! I’m even scheming how to stretch my modest year-end bonus and surprise some people in my life with something thoughtful. That mental vacation is all because of you guys, and I just wanted you to know how much better you made me feel.