usvi-on-line
I AM the grinch.
linne wrote:Excuse me but what does "grinch" mean?
I cannot find a translation any places.
Linne
Hope this helps; sadly, I sometimes feel like a grinch too.
from:
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_18616 ... rinch.html
grinch (plural grinch·es)
noun
Definition:
somebody who ruins enjoyment: somebody grouchy and contrary who spoils the fun of others ( informal )
[Late 20th century. After a character in a children's story by Dr. Seuss]
http://www.seuss.org/seuss/mr.grinch.html
Edited to add that I understand Connie's position very well. There seems to be too much buy, buy, buy and not enough care, give, and help... for me.
Last edited by lprof on Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
... no longer a stranger to paradise
Linne, I have no idea how commercialized it is where you live, but it certainly is in the states.
Although I don't think I ruin it for people around me, it's just a general feeling that I have.
Like I said, I don't believe that we should spend our money shopping like crazy when I see a homeless man that lives on a bridge only about a mile from me. I intend to drop him off some clothes (new clothes) and hope that other people in my town will. They see him, they know he's there in the rain, the snow and the cold.
We're very lucky to have a nice home and be able to afford alot of things that others could never afford.
Thanks all for your suggestions. Tomorrow I'm making my donations.
Although I don't think I ruin it for people around me, it's just a general feeling that I have.
Like I said, I don't believe that we should spend our money shopping like crazy when I see a homeless man that lives on a bridge only about a mile from me. I intend to drop him off some clothes (new clothes) and hope that other people in my town will. They see him, they know he's there in the rain, the snow and the cold.
We're very lucky to have a nice home and be able to afford alot of things that others could never afford.
Thanks all for your suggestions. Tomorrow I'm making my donations.
"Paradise...it's a state of mine"
Our family has called a TRUCE this year. The little kids will get gifts, and our mothers, but we're just going to relax and forgo the ostentatious gift giving family tradition.
My older daughter (who some of you met at the Beach Bar last spring, Sinawitatanka) lives on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Some of the kids living there go through the winter without hats or gloves or other necessities, let alone toys. If you are looking for a non-profit that makes a huge difference in the lives of children, check out the Cheyenne River Youth Project:
http://www.lakotayouth.org/
Both of my daughters have volunteered there, and I've visited and seen firsthand the good they do in the community.
My older daughter (who some of you met at the Beach Bar last spring, Sinawitatanka) lives on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Some of the kids living there go through the winter without hats or gloves or other necessities, let alone toys. If you are looking for a non-profit that makes a huge difference in the lives of children, check out the Cheyenne River Youth Project:
http://www.lakotayouth.org/
Both of my daughters have volunteered there, and I've visited and seen firsthand the good they do in the community.
Linne - It's a reference to a children's book by Dr Seuss called "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." He's a fictional character who tries to take all the joy out of Christmas by stealing all of the gifts, decorations, etc. If you do an internet search by the book title you should be able to find information. There was also a movie by the same name a few years ago with Jim Carrey playing the Grinch.
Thank you for the explanation. Now I understand. The reason I couldn’t find the word in any dictionary must be because it’s a word with reference to a fictitious character in a book (a book I do not know).
Connie, Christmas in Denmark is commercial too, but I don’t think, it’s so much as in USA.
For me it’s a mixture, sometimes I think it’s too much, if they start to make Christmas decorations in November, and Christmas also give me much work. But I also enjoy Christmas. It’s cosy. Our home is cosy with a lot of candle lights, decorations with materials from the nature etc.. Yesterday I found some gifts for my grandchildren, which I think, they will be happy for, and I’m looking forward to see their faces. Tonight I’m going to have some girlfriends visiting me, I have made some delicious Christmas food and will set a nice Christmas table. I’m sure, we will have a great evening. I enjoy that side of Christmas.
But USA and Denmark are different in another way. I can see that a lot of you are involved in charity. It’s not so common here, although we of course have some. I have been thinking about that.
Are the Americans better people? I think , it must be because our society is different. Denmark is more a Welfare State, we pay a lot in tax, but we don’t have a lot of poor people. You can of course find some, and this year we are told that more people than normal need help. But the poor people in Denmark are not so poor as in many other countries. Nobody needs to starve, nobody needs to freeze and it’s free to go to school, to college, to the doctor or in the hospital. You can of course be poor in another way- poor in social relations, and there are many places where they offer lonely people to celebrate Christmas together.
So in Denmark we will not see a homeless man living under a bridge (unless he has chosen it himself), you can have a single mother, who cannot afford to give her children big Christmas gifts, but it’s not so visible. So perhaps it’s the reason, why I can enjoy Christmas and enjoy giving gifts without bad conscience.
I know there is a lot of persons in other countries, who need help. But we cannot safe the whole world, and I think, we would be crazy, if we never allowed ourselves to enjoy life, because other people have a bad life. And as I have told before, we pay a lot in tax and don’t complain about that, knowing that we help other people in this way.
(Please, please I don’t want a discussion about which society are the best, I just want to explain the possible reason to, why Americans seem to be more “charity people” than the Danes).
Linne
Connie, Christmas in Denmark is commercial too, but I don’t think, it’s so much as in USA.
For me it’s a mixture, sometimes I think it’s too much, if they start to make Christmas decorations in November, and Christmas also give me much work. But I also enjoy Christmas. It’s cosy. Our home is cosy with a lot of candle lights, decorations with materials from the nature etc.. Yesterday I found some gifts for my grandchildren, which I think, they will be happy for, and I’m looking forward to see their faces. Tonight I’m going to have some girlfriends visiting me, I have made some delicious Christmas food and will set a nice Christmas table. I’m sure, we will have a great evening. I enjoy that side of Christmas.
But USA and Denmark are different in another way. I can see that a lot of you are involved in charity. It’s not so common here, although we of course have some. I have been thinking about that.
Are the Americans better people? I think , it must be because our society is different. Denmark is more a Welfare State, we pay a lot in tax, but we don’t have a lot of poor people. You can of course find some, and this year we are told that more people than normal need help. But the poor people in Denmark are not so poor as in many other countries. Nobody needs to starve, nobody needs to freeze and it’s free to go to school, to college, to the doctor or in the hospital. You can of course be poor in another way- poor in social relations, and there are many places where they offer lonely people to celebrate Christmas together.
So in Denmark we will not see a homeless man living under a bridge (unless he has chosen it himself), you can have a single mother, who cannot afford to give her children big Christmas gifts, but it’s not so visible. So perhaps it’s the reason, why I can enjoy Christmas and enjoy giving gifts without bad conscience.
I know there is a lot of persons in other countries, who need help. But we cannot safe the whole world, and I think, we would be crazy, if we never allowed ourselves to enjoy life, because other people have a bad life. And as I have told before, we pay a lot in tax and don’t complain about that, knowing that we help other people in this way.
(Please, please I don’t want a discussion about which society are the best, I just want to explain the possible reason to, why Americans seem to be more “charity people” than the Danes).
Linne
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bubblybrenda
- Posts: 549
- Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:57 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
Sorry Connie, I really am not going to hijack this thread (much). Linne, recently Oprah did a show on how families live in other countries and she featured Denmark. I think your country is run phenomenally. North America is a country of "excess". Not necessarily a good thing.
Connie, I am so with you sista! I grew up in a blue-collar family. Christmas was practical: winter coat; winter boots. Not much more than that year-after-year. I never felt hard done by that's for sure. The focus was on the family time and my Mom's family would travel for days to come for Christmas (and vice-versa). Traditional Ukranian meal on Dec. 24. A huge turkey dinner on the 25th then an open house on the 26th. It was all about the food, family and friends, not the gifts.
Admittedly I got a little crazy with gift buying in my 20's and 30's. 3 years ago I lost someone very special to me and it caused me to wake up and smell the coffee about what is truly important in life. Last year I didn't buy a single gift and told my family that I didn't want them buying anything for me. I have decided to focus on those less fortunate.
This year I took the money I would have spent and sent it to a family in Barbadoes. Never met this family in my life but know of them through someone I met on St. John. Have talked to them on the phone numerous times and for some odd reason we have struck up a friendship. What I admire about this family is that although they never know how they're going to put food on the table from one week to the next they have a positive outlook on life and feel that they are blessed simply because they have a roof over their head, can send their child to school, and put some food on the table.
There but for the Grace of God go I.
Connie, I am so with you sista! I grew up in a blue-collar family. Christmas was practical: winter coat; winter boots. Not much more than that year-after-year. I never felt hard done by that's for sure. The focus was on the family time and my Mom's family would travel for days to come for Christmas (and vice-versa). Traditional Ukranian meal on Dec. 24. A huge turkey dinner on the 25th then an open house on the 26th. It was all about the food, family and friends, not the gifts.
Admittedly I got a little crazy with gift buying in my 20's and 30's. 3 years ago I lost someone very special to me and it caused me to wake up and smell the coffee about what is truly important in life. Last year I didn't buy a single gift and told my family that I didn't want them buying anything for me. I have decided to focus on those less fortunate.
This year I took the money I would have spent and sent it to a family in Barbadoes. Never met this family in my life but know of them through someone I met on St. John. Have talked to them on the phone numerous times and for some odd reason we have struck up a friendship. What I admire about this family is that although they never know how they're going to put food on the table from one week to the next they have a positive outlook on life and feel that they are blessed simply because they have a roof over their head, can send their child to school, and put some food on the table.
There but for the Grace of God go I.
~Brenda~