Snow Globes

The other day I was looking at some of the "seasonal gifts" being sold by my employer. One of these gifts is a Disney motif snow globe. I thought to myself, "Cool!" because I remember snow globes from my youth. The ones I remember from my Grandmother's house were usually the size of a softball, heavy glass and they had either snowmen, a country scene or a "Night Before Christmas" scene. You shook them up, set them down, and then watched the snow fall for a few minutes. All in all, they were pretty magical.

Now we get to what passes for a snow globe these days. The variety we are selling (and I have to think that this pretty much represents what is available these days), have some sort of white chunky stuff for the snow in a plastic globe. And, when you shake them up, you get to watch the "snow" fall for an soul satisfying 15 to 30...seconds. I don't think any little kids are going to grow up with fond memories of this.

In miniature, this is what is wrong with our society. There is very little pride of workmanship or creation any more. Today it is all about getting the money. Make it as cheaply as possible and sell it as dearly as you can. Gimme the money. And this is why, even when one makes it near the top of the income pyramid, there is no joy. Unless you are right up on the pinnacle of that pyramid where you can afford to pay hugely for one of those few true craftsmen/artisans left, the stuff you buy is no different from the stuff the rest of us buy...and most of that is crap.

I have watched huge buildings, that purport to be "homes", being built in the rich part of this county. For the most part, they are being built using the same materials and the same workmanship that one finds in those developments of MacMansions which sprout in former cow pastures seemingly overnight. In other words, the rich guy is building bigger, but not much better. Then that rich guy then gets to drive his big SUV over roads and bridges that are more and more rapidly falling into disrepair. It does not add up to an increase in the quality of life; at least it doesn't to me.