Let The HolyDays Begin

Happy Black Friday (A Day Late and a Dollar Short :)

1. Uh Oh We’re In The Red, Dear
to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Uh oh we’re in the red, dear.
On our credit card it shows
Christmas is almost over,
But the debit line still grows.
Shopping like Santa’s zombies,
Sent our budget down in flames
But all our Christmas spirit
Helped the giant retail chains.
I’m so foggy Christmas eve,
Wondering how we’ll pay
Christmas doesn’t seem so bright
When our finances are tight.
So here’s a plan for next year
Let’s forget the shopping spree
Let’s give a gift of love, so
All our Christmas gifts are free.

2. Listen to the Message
to the tune of Oh, Tennenbaum

Oh shopper dear
Come over here
And listen to our message.
Oh shopper dear come over here
And listen to our message.
The women who toil
In far off lands
So you can wear
Your favorite brands.
Don’t get a break-from dawn `till dusk
It isn’t right — let’s make a fuss.
When buying shirts and pants and stuff
Ask were the workers paid enough.

3. Profits
to the tune of Jingle Bells

You’re eating up our lies
And dashing to the stores
Then all our prices rise
And how the money pours
If we don’t keep you drugged
And watching your TV
You might see the hypocrisy
Then where would business be?

Profits here, profits there,
Profits everywhere
Christmas time is funny,
We smell money in the air
Advertise, glamorize,
Fool you with a flair.
Let’s make sure that Christmas
Is a businesslike affair.

We’ll tell you how to think
And tell you what to try
What to eat and drink
And how to live and die
And if our plan succeeds,
When Christmas-time is nigh
Instead of seeking love and peace
You’ll hunt for gifts to buy
(repeat chorus)

4. Buy And Sell
to the tune of Silver Bells

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Lined with advertising
It’s the big retail season of Christmas.
Children begging for each new thing
Toys for mile after mile
And the mood of the season is clear.
Buy and sell (Buy and sell)
Buy and sell (Buy and sell)
It’s Christmas time for consumers.
Ching-a-ching (ching-a-ching)
Cash registers ring (registers ring)
Must we spend Christmas this way?
Maxing credit, running debits,
Buying things we don’t need
With money we don’t really have.
Children crying, parent sighing
No time for family
And the reason behind it is clear.
(repeat chorus)

5. Learn to Sew!
to the tune of Let it Snow

Oh, the economy’s really frightful
But the shopping is so delightful
When you desperately need some dough
Learn to sew, learn to sew, learn to sew.
Oh, there’s no sign the work is stopping
`cause the orders keep us hopping.
When you’ve got no place else to go,
Learn to sew, learn to sew, learn to sew.
When you finally say good night,
And it’s two a.m. in the morn,
And the foreman wants to hold you tight,
And you wish that he’d never been born.
Oh, the economy’s really frightful
But the shopping is so delightful
When you desperately need some dough
Learn to sew, learn to sew, learn to sew.
Oh, the industry isn’t dying
But the work is really trying
When you’re bank account’s getting low
Learn to sew, learn to sew, learn to sew.

6. O’ Dumpster Are You Full of Food
to the tune of O’ Little Town of Bethlehem

O’ dumpster are you full of food
For us to eat today?
I wonder why, when it’s still good
The stores throw it away?
Could it be that it serves them
To make more than they sell?
And giving it to hungry folks
Won’t pay them very well.
O’ Dumpster when I lift your lid
What treasure waits for me?
A winter coat? A basketball? A five-pound bag of peas?
Though sometimes I get sickened
But it’s not from the food
It’s `cause I know that all their `trash’
Could feed my neighborhood.
O’ dumpster, why have they locked you?
You’re wrapped in chains today.
Did you know it’s against the law
To take what’s thrown away?
But bolt cutters and crowbars
Can liberate your fill!
And make sure that it gets to folks
And not to a landfill!

7. Slaving in a Sweatshop Wonderland
to the tune of Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Door bell rings, are you listening?
On your brow, sweat is glistening.
You’re working tonight; it just isn’t right,
Slaving in a sweatshop wonderland.

Gone away are the good jobs
Here today are the sweatshops
They want you to sew
Seven days in a row
Slaving in a sweatshop wonderland.

In Toronto, Woolworth has used sweatshops
And they’ve paid the lowest rates in town.
Ask about a union, they’ll say no ma’am.
Homeworkers do the job for the poorest pay around.

Later on, they’ll conspire
How to raise prices higher
The plans that they’ve made
Won’t make us better paid
Slaving in a sweatshop wonderland.

Door bell rings, are you listening?
On your brow, sweat is glistening.
You’re working tonight; it just isn’t right,
Slaving in a sweatshop wonderland.

8. Way Up on the Top Floor
to the tune of Away in a Manger

Way up on the top floor,
where people can’t reach,
The boss of the bussiness
plans trips to the beach,
He counts up his money
and spits on the poor,
While workers are angry
and bang on his door.

His company’s huge
and it eats up the globe,
It controls the TV
and everything we know,
His power’s not endless,
he’ll run things no more,
We’ve come to his condo
to kick down the door.

Stop shopping his stores,
stop supporting his banks,
Don’t polish his shoes
or build his big tanks.
Come out in the streets,
come out one and all,
Come join revolution
and his empire will fall.

9. Silent Night

Silent night, peaceful night
How can you sleep tonight?
Soldiers occupy lands afar
To feed more oil to polluting cars
When will there ever be peace?
When will there ever be peace?’

Silent Night, peaceful night
We’ll survive through this fight
Build your prisons, banks and walls
We will work to dismantle them all.
We’ll live a life of true worth,
Come, live a life of true worth.

Silent night, peaceful night
Bankers quake at the site
Of wealth distributed to the poor
And debtors who don’t stay docile no more
Once revolution is born
Once revolution is born

The Disease of Consumerism

Do you think that the people of the rich U.S are the only ones cursed with the disease of consumerism? I am here to guarantee you it is also alive and well in second and third world countries as well.

Thanks to the wonders of the media now people the world over are feeling like they are missing out and going crazy for the latest wonders floating in from China and Mexico.

My daughter lives with her in-laws in Hondurus. Her mom in law makes the minimum wage there, which is equivalent to $300.00 a month.

Her teenage son really wanted a soccer jersey for his favorite team there. Which by the way the rival gangs are based around these soccer teams. Her teenage son was very happy, especially considering it cost her $75.00 at the mall to buy it.

When she got home with it her teenage daughter threw a screaming stomping fit because she felt she should have one also. Her mother explained she would get her one from the Mercado, she replied that she would never wear anything from the Mercado.

While I was talking on skype to my daughter her hubby came in and told her that he was going to the mall with his mom. Yup you got it, to get another jersey for his little sister.

What a crazy world we live in!

Happy Dia de Amor

I love Valentines time. Not just the day, but the whole week. Everyone seems just a little bit nicer, even if they are just trying to get chocolate, but it is just nice. When all the kids were young I was a very good consumer and went all out buying all the kids candy and gifts. Being in Costa Rica, where commercialism is not quite as healthy I don't spend as much. We still like a treat and little gift.

This year we went out Friday night with my daughter and her hubby to a movie and then to Outback Steakhouse, where the only thing we felt we wanted to spend the money on was a sandwich. I mean give me a break, ribs are $30.00? That is freakin ridiculous. We all had a great time, and I paid for eating the Bloomin Onion on our long, really long, run this morning.

We got lost and ended up running for 2:17. I was supposed to be up to 1:30 at this point. Needless to say I am beat. It was really hot this morning also about 85, so that took its' toll. But we survived and will be having a great Valentines with the kiddos making Valentine cookies tomorrow. They love making cookies, so this will be a fun activity, plus give them a little treat.

It is also Chinese New Year so we will be eating Chinese food for dinner. I am thinking they are pretty right on about the year of the Tiger. A year of lots of movement and change. My daughter and hubby will be moving to Hondurus in a month or so. Man are we going to be bored without our exciting party partners around :(