Just kidding. I’m  really tired of hearing about the recession. Time for some happiness.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat… The old Christmas nursery rhyme reminds us of the charity of the Holiday season. I actually searched online to find the origins of this song so I could impart a bit of knowledge to my many dedicated readers (just kidding: I’m pretty sure that only my brother actually reads this column). Unfortunately, even Wikipedia has almost nothing to say about it. Not that Wikipedia is a creditable source.

The origins of the song are not the important part. Instead, the message that it conveys is what makes this classic, well… Classic?

OK. Bottom line: the winter holiday season is the time of year when people are most likely to dig into their pockets and give to those less fortunate. There are many festive movies and such that tell us how we should make Christmas and the season of giving last the whole year round.

But what about the cranky lady at Wal-mart who cut in front of me just to stop me from buying the last Prince Ken Musketeer? Not that my brother-in-law really wanted me to buy his son a Barbie product, but still. It was rude. Do I really want that kind of attitude to follow my shopping experience every month?

A common discussion in the office the past month was “Is Christmas a secular holiday?” I am on the “No” side myself, but the “Yes” side has a good argument when it comes to the consumerist attitude of many shoppers this time of year.

I’m not saying that I’m converting to believing that Christmas is just about presents and Santa and stuff. I would just like to express my small words of warning to holiday shoppers: WATCH YOURSELVES. It’s a bit of a contradiction to uncharitably smash a poor college student in your rush to buy a gift for someone.

Even if Santa isn’t keeping track of the naughty and nice this year, beware of Christmas Karma: someone may want to feed you some of your own “seasonal cheer.”