Lost & Found

Each time I go into the stores and malls this Christmas season it makes me a little sad because the last thing I see is anything resembling Christmas spirit. This past weekend I had some errands to do so I decided to see if I could find any signs of Christmas spirit while I was at it. I went into several stores and looked. The signs were not good.

Everyone was rushing about and not a smile to be seen anywhere. No one is wearing anything resembling Christmas garb. No Christmas sweaters. No Santa stocking caps. If it wasn't for the unusually full shopping carts and Holiday Themed Sale banners you'd think this was a normal shopping weekend.

I thought to myself, "Maybe it’s a stealth Christmas spirit." So I tested that theory. "Merry Christmas!" I said to a passing shopper. He did a double take and muttered "Thanks." as he moved on down the aisle. I know that scientifically you need more tests to prove a point so I continued to do experiments saying Merry Christmas to all the shoppers that I met on my way through the mall to parking lot. I kept score on the back of an envelope and test results proving the existence of the Christmas spirit did not look good.

Positive Results = 2

Negative Results = 6

Neutral Results = 16

"What?" Or Some Variation = 4

It was beginning to look like Christmas spirit was on life support until I went to pick up a pizza. The store was "over the top" with a huge tree and Christmas decorations. The store smelled like a fresh cut tree. There was Christmas music in the air and as each customer entered they were greeted with an enthusiastic "Merry Christmas" from the staff behind the counter dressed like elves.

The owner was dressed in a Santa hat pushing around a cart, dispensing hot cider; eggnog and home made Christmas cookies to customers while they waited for their pizzas. I looked around at the rest of the people and saw something I didn't see all day - Happy People.

As I sat there and waited for my order, I felt happy. Going with the feeling, I turned to the table next to me and said "Merry Christmas" and four happy people in unison wished me a "Merry Christmas." I turned to the table on the other side of me, and they wished me "Merry Christmas" first.

I watched smiles appear on the faces of customers as they walked in the door and were greeted sincerely by the elves. The owner wished me a "Merry Christmas" again as he refilled my cider.

The waitress beat me to the draw wishing me a "Merry Christmas" as she delivered my order. I experienced more Christmas spirit in a pizza place than I did in the mall.

I am pleased to be able to say there is still Christmas spirit out there, but you just have to look a little harder than days gone by to find it. It is worth the effort. Finding it brought back many pleasant memories of past Christmas seasons. It didn't take much to take Christmas spirit off life support for me. All it took was happy and sincere people wishing one another a heartfelt "Merry Christmas."

The final confirmation for me that commercialism can be done in good taste without spoiling Christmas came with my pizza in a take-home box printed to look like a present. On the box was a red envelope with a card. On the front of the card was picture of the Santa (the owner) and his elves (the staff) holding pizzas with the letters MERRY CHRISTMAS spelled out in Toppings. Inside, the cynic in me was ready for a "spoiling moment" of pure and unadulterated commercialism in the form of an ad or a discount coupon inside the card.

Instead were the following words,

"From our Family to yours this season of Joy and Remembrance."

I started the day looking for something important to me I had feared lost. Just like the first Christmas taking place in a humble stable; I found the Christmas spirit alive and well in a humble pizza place.