I walked out of a store today because [View All]

the Christmas music was making me anxious. Going to do my weekly errands in town has become a source of stress. How to make the gas to get there stretch, how to make the grocery budget money cover the necessities, and hoping against hope that nothing breaks during the week which absolutely must be replaced. I started my shopping going off of my carefully prepared list, but my attention kept wandering and my heart started pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears and I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach you get when you need to take flight. I did. I wheeled my cart over by the customer service stand and ask the lady if I could leave it there for a bit and I went outside to calm myself. I realized I was panicking and that, as I sought to calm myself, some of the relief came from not being exposed to the loud Christmas music in the store. This holiday finds me anxious and scared and angry. I'm sick of being told I have to shop to support an economy which doesn't support us adequately. I'm sick of being told that our lives are not worth the effort of extremely wealthy people who benefit from our labor and spending to invest in our infrastructure and in jobs. I'm sick of hearing about jittery millionaires and billionaires who won't invest because they don't know what their tax rates will be for the next year. I'm sick of being extorted.

I will not Christmas shop this year. I gave a little money to my daughter for her to buy clothing for the grandchildren for Christmas, but beyond those essentials, I will not spend one thin dime to line the pockets of another freaking filthy rich person who will shelter it overseas or in hedge funds. We will continue to buy the necessities and nothing else.