The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

"It's the most wonderful time of the year . . . " or so the traditional Christmas carol says.

But every year, I'm bothered a little more by the commercialism that surrounds the holiday season. We can blame capitalism and corporate America all we want. But the consumers themselves, whether or not they are manipulated pawns in a supply and demand market, bear some of the responsibility in making Christmas into a maniacal chaotic mess.

For instance, take one of the biggest shopping days of the year, Black Friday. Its title alone sounds an awful lot like a holiday that signifies the crucifixion of a Messiah rather than a festive day of clearances and seasonal sales.

And the stories generated from holiday shopping are enough to make me want to hole up in my house beginning the day after Thanksgiving until at least the second week of January.

One of my colleagues told me about a woman jumping on top of a platform and lying on the canvas covering discounted items before the canvas was even lifted.

Another friend of mine told me about a woman chasing a man to a department store checkout screaming, "That's mine. He took mine!"

And there are always the heartfelt stories about people stealing toys out of children's hands.

This year, the Boise mall advertised that it would be giving out free Nintendo Wiis to the first people in line on Black Friday.

This announcement caused a riot. The horrifying episode was captured in a photograph on the front page of the paper. Teenagers' faces were smashed against the glass doors of the stores. Men, women, and children were being shoved and trampled from behind. The looks of anguish on the consumers' faces said it all . . . "Merry Christmas!"

Perhaps manufacturers are manipulating customers into these shopping frenzies by only shipping ten to sixteen units of their products to each store in order to get publicity. Maybe advertising agencies spend millions of dollars researching how to target certain demographics. Sure, corporate America spends most of its time figuring out how to appeal to our materialistic human nature.

But that's capitalism, baby! It doesn't mean we have to act like barbarians.

So, is Christmas the "most wonderful time of the year," as the song says? Let's look at rest of the lyrics.

"There'll be much mistletoeing, and hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near. It's the most wonderful time of the year."

Maybe that's the sentiment on which we, as a society, need to focus - family, loved ones, what's happening inside our hearts. Then maybe Christmas would be the most wonderful time of the year.