The time of the year...

Yes, it is the time of the year again, Christmas is closing fast, some people dance in the streets, others remember. The year is closing to its end fast and we are compelled to think: "Was this a good year? What really changed?" and other things very similar to those thoughts. People begin thinking about their Christmas presents and about the presents they feel compelled to give.
Who do they care enough about to give a present?
What should they give as present?
Yes, it is the time of the year once more, the stores begin stocking for the Christmas rush which most likely will compensate for the lower then usual sales up to now. If the sales were up to the expectations it certainly will boost the stock prizes and that will make the CEOs happy which then will give bigger presents to their families or themselves. Yes, we do live in a time of materialism where nothing matters as much as the collecting of items.
Is that the spirit of Christmas?
I do not know what I do know is that we often do change the meaning of events to incorporate new ideas. Yes, in this time of the year we start looking for others to stay close to us, to make ourselves and those that are close to us loved. Now in today's world presents do symbolize in part love it would seem, since if we do not give a present but we could afford it seems that we do not care about the person that we do not give a present to.
Is that really so?
Can we love someone or care about someone and not give them a present?
I would dare say yes, yet I must admit that it seems to hold true that a present represents something. Why it does I' am not sure maybe it is because we then think that the person really thought about the present or that the person cared enough to go out and get a present. Maybe it is just a new social norm to which we conform by now and which we justify with those statements. And then the thought occurs "What would he/she like? What would make her/him happy?" Most often we are unable to answer that question and we pick something that we think that person would like. This helps the businesses which then after Christmas offer the possibility of returning and exchanging products, this is not out of the goodness of their heart but rather because of simple economics, which works as follows person buys presents give present but the present is rejected and is then returned the person that received the present then will select a new present. This present might be the same value but most likely has a higher value and this boosts the shares a little and also makes the sales record look better.
In the end after all the presents have eventually found their respective recipient and everyone is happy and is reassured that they matter to the people that matter to them. Yet, sometimes there is the lonely person that would like to be part of all that but can't because of convention or because the ties are not close enough yet. The phenomenon of Christmas is most curious and it is often called the time of love, yet I would say that we considering the way Christmas is celebrated that we should add a second title to "Christmas the time of love" and then (It also is the time of record sales or Shareholders prepare for the launch or maybe CEOs remember all that money is not your's).
In the end we do not think of the present as much as of the person the showed us that showed that he/she cares and that you are important to them.

P.S. Yes, it is true what they say, we these days show love, good intentions or just friendship by giving away a present.