What should be one of the most wonderful times of the year for the children has become many parents nightmare...
I say this as the Dad of three wonderful children that God has blessed me with. I love my children and have tried my best to teach them to always treat others as they would want to be treated. They have always made me extremely proud with the good grades they bring home from school as well as the comments they have received for being well mannered and polite. So obviously I want to reward them at Christmas time, birthdays, etc. with the things they ask for (as long as they are a reasonable price). That is where the problem begins....
I agree that America is an opportunistic country. No other place on the planet is there a country so thriving with opportunity to have your own business or make your own path. However, that opportunity has been changed in the last decade to become more of a GREED. Why do I say that you ask? Well it all started some years back (1996 or 1997 I believe) when a little red toy that giggled made its way on the scene. Tickle Me Elmo is what we call that toy. It was at that time the people of America discovered by holding the toys hostage that peoples children wanted most they could make TREMENDOUS profits. It was not uncommon to hear about 'Tickle Me Elmos' being sold all over the country for $200.00, $300.00, $400.00 and even more. Money like that being charged to hard working people so their kids could have the popular toy......
As a parent this angered me severely. The original cost at Toys R' Us was in the $30-$40 dollar range. Everyday people who work full time jobs and sometimes two jobs could not provide that one toy their children begged so hard to get. And every since that turning point year, every year at Christmas time (all times of year really but even more so at Christmas) greedy, non-caring people charge the shelves and buy up every single popular toy that children desire and then head straight to on-line services such as eBay or Craigslist and sell them at double the price or triple the price and sometimes even more. This to me is the same as holding our children hostage, if we can not pay the price they do not get the toy they want so very much. When did Americans turn to such greed that they do not care about the children.....God help us all.
I hope in the upcoming years a bill of some sort can get passed to prevent this sort of abomination from happening. Everyone wonders why our country is struggling so bad and complain constantly about it. Then they never take the time to see the moral beatings the normal everyday non-rich citizens are constantly taking. High gas prices (until just recently but who knows how long that will last), raising energy costs for heating and cooling their homes, raising food costs, raising health insurance premiums, religious persecution, and then the greed of fellow Americans costing their children the toys they want most.
Christmas is supposed to be a time of giving not greed. It was at this time God sent us a Savior to give us a chance to redeem ourselves. Instead many Americans use that time of year to make profits and abuse the freedoms of our country. Many of them never even taking the time to tell Jesus "Happy Birthday, and thank you for saving my life". I hope in the coming years things change and people stop trying to use children to make hefty profits. The children have enough to deal with when they grow up, let them enjoy their childhood with the toys they deserve. If people are determined to make hefty profits using on-line serviced please do it with items that are not toys that children want so badly. This year Bakugan is one of the populars and I have already taken note that Walmart sells these highly desired toys for $10 a package of three. I have seen them upwards of $30 on-line. Not to mention the new Elmo Live toy that sells for $60 at Walmart but is being bought up and sold on-line well over $100. There has to be ways to make profits other than denying children the toys they desire.