Do You Know a Scrooge?

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Scrooge has to be one of the best-known characters in literature. Do any of you know a "real" Mr. Scrooge? Or are you one yourself, even at times? What is it about the holidays and the way they have come to be celebrated that can sometimes bring out the Scrooge in even the most earnest and enthusiastic holiday participant? Let us know your experience with the Scrooges of the world. Does the heart of 'your Scrooge' soften by the time the holiday finally gets here?

[wickedrent12294]

Yes unfortunately I do know a Scrooge. Me!

[BarbaraN]

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wickedrent12294 wrote:
Yes unfortunately I do know a Scrooge. Me!

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I'll join your club. Christmas has become so commercial and obligatory that there isn't a lot of joy in it anymore. People buy gifts because they must. Get together for "traditional" family gatherings because they must--whether they really want to or not. Doing all this is a chore. Shopping is crazy and crowded and mainly a time to pick up bargains--not a spontaneous joy. Travel is a real nuisance and time consuming. It is all formula. I no longer give gifts but prefer to make my gift giving spontaneous and for no reason throughout the year. I don't decorate inside but I do have a good time decorating the outside of my house so I do do that. All the "special" Christmas foods are very fattening so I have to pay off my debt in January and lose weight. And I do have a Santa hat that says "Bah Humbug".

[kiakar]

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BarbaraN wrote:

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wickedrent12294 wrote:
Yes unfortunately I do know a Scrooge. Me!

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I'll join your club. Christmas has become so commercial and obligatory that there isn't a lot of joy in it anymore. People buy gifts because they must. Get together for "traditional" family gatherings because they must--whether they really want to or not. Doing all this is a chore. Shopping is crazy and crowded and mainly a time to pick up bargains--not a spontaneous joy. Travel is a real nuisance and time consuming. It is all formula. I no longer give gifts but prefer to make my gift giving spontaneous and for no reason throughout the year. I don't decorate inside but I do have a good time decorating the outside of my house so I do do that. All the "special" Christmas foods are very fattening so I have to pay off my debt in January and lose weight. And I do have a Santa hat that says "Bah Humbug".

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I love shopping more than most people so I couldn't be a scrooge because I enjoy buying things for children. Too many things too. I guess being a scrooge could make you wealthy but not too wise and you wouldnt have any fun.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

I was out shopping today, when a lady and her husband let me go ahead of them in line. They had several gift cards they wanted to purchase and were in the "Express" lane. I had 2 items. I thanked them, and then it became clear when my transaction was almost done that the husband was still not sure whether or not they should allow the person who came up behind them in front of them again. I laughed and said something to the woman about her husband's generosity at this time of year while out shopping, and she agreed that, yes; her husband is a thoughtful person. Then she told me a story of a man getting coffee in a Starbucks--I had not heard the story, so I thought I'd pass it along here to help offset the "Scrooges" you may be encountering out there!

Here's the account of this random act of kindness that lasted throughout the day at a Florida Starbucks:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/22264043/

Enjoy!

~ConnieK

[JesseBC]

This is what a "Scrooge" has come to mean in popular culture, but in the Dickens story, Scrooge is more than just someone who's burned out on Christmas.

He's an evil skinflint, who ignores his only family and exploits his employees, loves nothing but money and can't think of any other use for the poor but prison or a workhouse.

The equivalent of a "Scrooge" today would be someone who refuses to give to Toys for Tots because they think all those children's mothers are just welfare queens who smoke crack and are too lazy to get jobs.

Sadly, there are a lot of people with Scrooge mentalities all year long, most without benefit of the Three Spirits.

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ConnieK wrote:
Scrooge has to be one of the best-known characters in literature. Do any of you know a "real" Mr. Scrooge? Or are you one yourself, even at times? What is it about the holidays and the way they have come to be celebrated that can sometimes bring out the Scrooge in even the most earnest and enthusiastic holiday participant? Let us know your experience with the Scrooges of the world. Does the heart of 'your Scrooge' soften by the time the holiday finally gets here?

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[trfstptch]

My husband is a "Scrooge" Can't change him, got it from his mother.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Certainly; that's very clear in the novel. Scrooge did not behave "scrooge-like" only at Christmas!

~ConnieK

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JesseBC wrote, in part:
This is what a "Scrooge" has come to mean in popular culture, but in the Dickens story, Scrooge is more than just someone who's burned out on Christmasbr>

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