I saw the cop photo earlier this week, and thought of posting it here, and glad you did with the bus story as well, otherwise I wouldn't have seen about the bus driver.

I've been jaded about the holiday season since my mid teens, and I'm in my late 40's now, so 30 plus years. There are so many things that turn me away from it. The commercialism, consumerism, and gross consumption of the holiday season, and as you point out, the stories of people behaving badly on black Friday in order to feed the need to have more stuff. Gotta have that big screen TV so I can see more ads to see what other stuff I need to have. Add to that the earlier and earlier start to the holiday season, and my disgust with the season starts earlier and earlier.

So now that I'm married, I do more things at Christmas. We have a larger house now, so we have room for a tree, and my wife likes the decorating and the celebration of the holidays, so I enjoy doing that with her, but neither of us really is into the commercial end of things. We will only be doing stockings for each other this year. Before I met my wife, Christmas was an obligation to do family things, but now it's more fun to share the time with someone I love.

That being said, I feel what gets lost is that even though people celebrate Christmas, it has little to do with the Christian holiday, or the fact that it's someone's birthday, and quite frankly, I'm not religious, but that's what bothers me about it. My parents grew up in the Netherlands, and St. Nicholas was the day of gift giving when you put out your wooden shoe, and Christmas was more of a religious holiday. My wife grew up in Puerto Rico where they did have Christmas gifts, but the three Kings was when they did more gifts. The religious holiday gets lost in the most anti-Christian feeding frenzy you can think of, and it drives our economy. Christmas has gone from the celebration of a child's birth, to being the cornerstone and symbol of the greed and consumption of our society with the almighty dollar as it's god.

Once in awhile, stories like these do sneak through the endless advertising and coverage of the consumerism, and they are a flicker of humanity in all the mess. So, thanks for posting these. They're a glimmer of hope no matter how faint.

I am firmly of the belief that there is more good in the world than bad. If you look for everyday kindness and simple 'doing for others,' it's really everywhere.

I have been worrying for many days about someone I've been encountering in my job who is homeless. He needs a warm coat but most of all he needs a roof over his head. We've been trying to hook him up with some temporary shelter that will get him into more permanent housing. And I keep thinking about going (down) coat shopping for him this weekend.

It isn't as oold here as it is in NYC or Winnipeg but it kills me that I know this poor guy who huddles at night on the street in his hoodie.