A string of colored Christmas lights: $1 or so at every store. A festive wreath for the front door: $5-10 at Wal-Mart. Inflatable Santa and reindeer in a snow globe: $60 at Target. Having the tackiest lawn decorations: priceless. That’s right—inflatable holiday decorations may be the new trend, but they are not something you’ll see on my front lawn. And why not, you ask? It might have something to do with my still having dignity.
Now I’m not saying that I hate the holidays—no, I am not Ms. Scrooge—but there have to be better ways to show the public your Christmas (or whatever holiday) spirit. However, there are some people who must have bought the entire line of inflatable characters, ranging from Frosty to Gobbles the Turkey to St. Patrick.
First of all, where the heck do people store these monstrosities? Sure, they don’t take up as much space when they are deflated, but these people must have a garage designated for decoration storage. So not only will they spend all of their paychecks on plastic blow-up people and animals—which I suppose is better than some things they could be wasting money on—but they also have to invest more money just to put them away when it isn’t their turn to be on display.
Secondly, does anyone think that lawns look better with a 10-foot snow globe filled with Winnie the Pooh and friends? Okay, maybe one of those could be cute, but only if the lawn is big enough to handle it. In some cases, however, people strap these suckers to their roofs, which can be seen by Santa on his sleigh, and probably by satellites orbiting the planet. There must be stories of someone’s roof collapsing or getting ripped off from the wind blowing the decorations into the neighbor’s pool. All in all, these are a waste of money and probably a health risk to everyone on the block.
Then what are the holidays without air-filled characters staked in the ground or strapped on the roof? They certainly aren’t made better by how much money someone spends to make his house viewable from space—this message also goes to the people who increase their electricity bills tenfold by covering every surface with Christmas lights. They should be about spending time with family and friends, so perhaps some of that money could go to traveling expenses. The season should also be about realizing how fortunate you are and trying to give to those who have less. There are plenty of charities that seek additional resources during the Thanksgiving and Christmas months to feed less-fortunate families and give their children more gifts on Christmas morning.
Overall, there is an upward trend in decoration expenses and a downward spiral in the quality of such ornaments. Certainly everyone can appreciate houses that are tastefully embellished with wreaths, candles in the windows, and icicle lights. There is just something about people getting into the holiday spirit and hanging lights with their families, especially wrapping colored strings around railings and the big tree in the front yard. However, there should be a limit to this self-expression, and people need to realize that it isn’t a competition to have the most square footage covered with decorations—despite what the movies may say. So, before you are tempted to buy that inflatable character, think about the millions of other uses for that money that might help people out, rather than block their view of the sun.
