...tis, the season to be ungrateful....

Yeah, whilst watching my hours of mind-numbing to some Harry Potter marathon on ABC Family Channel to "celebrate" the release of part 1 of the last film of the franchise, I was somewhat numbed in the mind at all the Christmas commercials already airing...and disgusted at this one in particular;

It's for DSW. You know, the shoe warehouse w/designer shoes but warehouse prices? I've yet to go there as despite I love war movies, war reenactments, NASCAR, pretty much every other sport, used to be a goalie for an ICE hockey team and other butch-sorta stuff, there is a soft spot in my heart that LOVES purses, and SHOES! Yup! I am woman, dangit!

So, I figured it was a DSW because they have those human-sized shoes that talk and gossip and the commercials are actually quite funny, if not silly as all let go.

But this commercial disturbed me a bit.

It basically has one boot(not a very sexy or attractive boot; more of a useful old school waterproof and slip-proof "duck" boot) arriving to another boot's house(now THIS one is pretty cool actually; similar to a mukluk, and high w/lambswool. Told you I'm a shoe gal) and ringing her bell, then proceeding to return her friend's greeting w/a rude and sarcastic version of "Jingle Bells," basically telling her friend her Christmas gift smells and how she'll be standing in line at the store returning it...

Anyone else think this is nasty? Terrible? Awful? Ugly? Ungrateful? Beyond rude? I mean, I know it's just a commercial but give me a break! It's repelling, or is it repulsive? Didn't Jill's momma(btw, that's the name of the rude boot, Jill as when Mukluk answers that's what she calls her) teach her any friggin' manners? I mean, is this what the general public thinks is funny? I know it's a general public thing as I myself have been in focus groups where we rate commercials and explain the whats, whys, wherefores, etc... of a commercial. And you're going to tell me the advertising department and focus group moderators accepted this as funny from panelists opinions? I mean, who did they recruit, the cast from Jersey Shore and the Bad Girls Club? A bunch of popular and spoiled high school girls from the North-shore of the Chicagoland area?

Honestly, I don't want to sound prudish, too old-fashioned snobby or a "stick in the mud," nor a "buzzkill," BUT... I find this commercial appalling, foul, disgusting, and just not at all a representative of the Christmas spirit. I also find it quite stupid.

It infuriates me that many think being a rude jackass to someone who was being nice to you.... is funny. It most certainly is not funny! It's awful. I know this whole WIIFM(What's In It For Me) mentality is from various companies who wish to reward their workers with incentives to spike up work production, but now it's trickling over to the rest of us.

Listen, I was raised to be thankful for whatever you got, gift wise. Now granted, if someone sent me a box of cow manure, I'd be upset, angry, etc....and would not be too grateful, unless I had a garden in desperate need for fertilizing and not a vengeful kind of thing. But I was always told when I'd receive a gift from someone, to be gracious and accepting of it; despite how icky, or vile, or how much it sucks, etc... Now this is funny coming from a mother who raised us w/such scruples that she herself doesn't follow them. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times we've gotten her gifts that she's rejected, in our faces or at a restaurant as they were presented to her. It's at the point where I don't even want to give her a gift card, as one time when I, as I'm unemployed and a SAHM gave my mother a $10 gift card to her favorite grocery store, she looked at me blankly and asked, "that's all?" ???? Uh, yeah; that's it. You lucky you got a darn thing from me(Remind me later to tell you the "underwear" story!).

But what this tells me is that being nasty and rude, ungracious when someone presents you with a gift that they went to the trouble of buying and wrapping is alright. It's alright, to make someone feel like absolute crap because YOU felt they didn't use their heart and mind and WALLET to get you that amazing gift you wanted. It's alright to be mean, nasty, ugly, etc...as you're probably in either a bad mood or have PMS(in every way that acronym is used, btw) and since you didn't get what you want from everyone else...or didn't get anything from anyone, your friendship should suffer as your friend didn't get you what YOU wanted. Hell, Jill; she's just a friend, she is NOT your mother, nor beau/husband/sig. other, or your father, nor your kids! She's a friend...well, I'm sure after that stunt Jill won't have a friend in Mukluk anymore. You're probably like, "uh, ChiTown Momma, it's not that BIG of a deal." Uh, yeah it is. It's bothering me that Christmas commercials like this which are viewed all over by not only adults but children, including mine; and are telling everyone it's OK to be a jerk, ugly, rude and nasty to someone you supposedly care about, and even possibly love. I really try to limit the kid's TV watching to family shows, and channels, so PBS is on constantly, which may end up being the case for now on as this was on ABC Family.

You know, right now, the way things are, IE, horrible economy, people out of work and their homes, mortgage fraud left and right and just inflation, period, this is not a time for ugly, rudeness, hurtfulness, anger, and just plain stupidity in regard to your actions to someone, as a lot of people can't even afford their own Christmas, much less spending so much money and time on yours. You don't know what is really going on in someone's life and it's most certainly not up to you to be judgmental, ugly, repulsive and just plain old mean. God don't like ugly. God don't make ugly, and He don't like ugly. If a friend of yours took the time out of their busy schedule to think of you, buy something for you, wrap it for you and present it to you for the holidays and it turns out to be something you really didn't like that big of an issue? So big of an issue you end up possibly losing a friendship over your own ire, ugliness and tackiness? I'm telling you, I would not be Jill's friend after that. In fact, I'd tell Jill, "tell you what? Why don't you bring back the gift, I'll return it for you, take that money for your gift and donate it to charity...but not in your name?

I'd do that, as..well, the friendship is over at that point. And who wants to be friends with such a selfish, ugly-hearted bitch? I have so much to worry about, last thing I need to care for is a temper-tantrum throwing female peer to freak out over a "bad" gift I've given her. I already have someone like that in my life but she doesn't realize things aren't all about her yet as she's a toddler.

FYI: I have no desire to shop at DSW, ever.