'Tis the season to kick ass

Today is the official first day of holiday shopping madness and I'm boycotting. Ok, actually, I just don't have any money to shop with, but even if I did, I would not be shopping today. All the people pushing and shoving their way through department stores and mall food courts has a claustrophobic effect on me and if I had high blood pressure, it'd probably give me a heart attack. I still have to get out there and shop for Christmas and birthday presents, but it boggles my mind how rude and self-absorbed people become at this time of the year... so, in an effort to change that (at least among the people I come in contact with), I'm starting a smile campaign. I read somewhere that the act of smiling causes your brain to release seratonin, the chemical that regulates your moods. If you're in a good mood, smiling makes you feel even better. If you're in a bad mood, even just trying to smile lifts the cloud a little. Since the normal response to someone smiling at you is to smile back (regardless of your mood), I'm going to make an effort to smile more at random grumpy shoppers. Then they'll smile and other people will see that and then they'll smile and so on and so forth. Call me self-serving, but if everyone will just smile more and be more considerate of the folks around you, maybe I can get my shopping done without wanting to hurt anyone this year...