Christmas thoughts

Y`know, I think Christmas is rather pointless. Particularly when the whole focus is on getting the Christmas shopping, and the associated exchange cards, making sure you have enough food, the holiday is booked, and you book time to spend Christmas Day with your obligatory family.We take the kids to see Santa, have heaps of Christmas work functions, school and kindy breakup functions and other gatherings designed to drink even more alcohol - and then everything is back to normal with pressure of work and paying off the credit card in the new year.

I work with unemployed people. Yeah, I know, ironic, but I actually do "work with people who are unemployed". And what are they going to do this Christmas - get a taxi chit to get home after the latest drinks function? Take time off work and go on holiday? Work on a public holiday so they can get a day in lieu and a time and a half? Upgrade their computer? Do a big Christmas spend up and pay off the credit card with the next dole payment? In fact most of them will get into so much debt that they`ll be getting food grants and other advances from WINZ because they've spent all their money on Christmas presents, getting them into even more debt - and if they`re Samoan, on their church tithes as well. If they have kids the money is spent on McDonalds lunches. Why do you think Thursday is the busiest day at Mc Donalds? Its the day after dole day, that's why. Off in the taxi to do the shopping and go to McD's - and go to the loan sharks to get some money to pay for it all. No wonder more than 50 percent of beneficaries owe money to WINZ. They don't have tome to seek budgeting advice, as they`re too busy spending money they don't have. How on earth do they get time to look for work - and who is going to employ them at this time of the year?

This Christmas, we`ll be spending time with our extended families, and will give them small presents. Not because they need them, but because they expect them. Even the kids expect presents as they`ve been sucked into the lie that Santa brings them. It's all Santa's fault.The family, parents, kids, nephews and nieces will be a bit pissed off if we gave poor people Christmas presents instead. We don't do Christmas cards - email is cheaper.

Perhaps if Santa paid for the presents we may be able to get a playstation, a TV and a computer for everyone -and I may be able to get a new car.

Some of you who read this blog will have no money worries. You may be planning a holiday, some overseas. Some will be getting drunk, and doing silly things with equally drunk people, eating too much and getting paid more in holiday pay than I would get paid in a month. You`ll spend heaps on Christmas presents, and a bit more on yourself. Some of you are atheists or agnostics - and you have the cheek to celebrate Christmas. People who don't believe in Jesus but are happy to celebrate Christmas are a bit like former MP Paul Adams celebrating a pagan gay festival with his grandchildren sitting on the knee of a witch.

We won't be going on holiday. We will be having a break. We won't be going to church on Christmas Day as we`ll be cooking Christmas dinner. And we`ll be happy if our credit card bill is paid off next month.

But we do know what Christmas is about. And we know what it is not about.