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Beneficially Busy Boxing Day

The day after Christmas is celebrated in many countries as Boxing Day, but here in America, we’re often either right back to work or right back to the mall to exchange unwanted gifts. How does that fit in with The Virtues of Christmas?

Industry

Industry. Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
~Benjamin Franklin

As much as you’re probably buried in torn wrapping paper and displaced bows, all of this strewn mess is a vivid reminder to avoid all unnecessary activities. Benjamin Franklin urged himself to keep productively busy at all times to avoid the temptation to lapse into less worthy activities like gossiping or hanging around at the tavern.

An example of Christmas Industry is the tale of Good King Wenceslas. There he was, sitting on his throne doing kingly things when he observed an aged peasant in a visibly sad state.

Boom!

The good king takes action. Nobody sings it like Bing! Listen below…

Trading Up

Here in the States, the day after Christmas is typically known as a day of frenzied returning of gifts. As the video explains, retail stores will only take returns for a short period of time without a receipt.

I found this out myself. I was stuck with an unwanted gift. When I went to the store to trade it for something (A^N_YT^H_IN^G_!!) else, it was late; far too late. The smart exchanger goes today, despite the Black Friday-like atmosphere.

Be careful. It can get crazy but tried and true shop-til-you-dropaholics are well versed in the ways of surviving mall mania:

Take your time
Schedule your route
Be considerate of others even if they’re not being considerate to you
No Grinchy tricks – retail fraud is rampant during returns season, don’t be part of the criminality
Keep an eye out for the great deals on Christmas clearance items – the only thing that goes quicker than the returns without receipts period is the time that clearance items stay on the shelves before all the red and green gives way to Valentine’s pink as far as the eye can see

Be careful. Be cheerful. Trade up in good faith and don’t let on that you ditched that present that your Mom thought was absolutely perfect for you.

Boxing Day?

Of all the interpretations of Boxing Day mentioned in the video above, the one in which the tradesmen went around collecting Christmas bonuses raises an interesting question. Hmm, is that a workday or a holiday?

For a lot of us, the day after Christmas is a day right back to the ol’ grind. That’s certainly in keeping with our Christmas Virtue of the day. Being industrious will help keep us out of trouble even if it’s a bit of a holiday buzz-kill.

After all the fun, presents, cookies and holiday feasting, we’ve got to get back to earning money to pay down our credit cards and start saving up for next Christmas.