The Grinch who stole Christmas
This morning I decided I would start my Christmas shopping. I don’t know what planet I was on but I actually thought that I might be able to find a few small token gifts for family and friends. The word ‘small’ of course relates to a price range suitable for my budget.
A few hours later and I have thrown in the towel. There is very little stock in the stores. Shelves are thinly lined with a row of goods to give the impression that they are well stocked.
The final straw was an ordinary can of gents Gillettes shaving foam which was priced at $999,500.00. I held my thumb over the price tag and counted back the noughts – common practice these days to avoid embarrassment at the pay point. Nearly one million dollars for a can of shaving foam!
Exchanging gifts has always been a family tradition but this year marks the end of that. I will not be giving gifts this Christmas.
I blame one person for this! He certainly is the grinch who has stolen Christmas but then again what more would you expect from such an accomplished thief!
December 3rd, 2005 09:18
If you dont mind me asking…what sort of salary are you on ? And how does your employer cope with the inflation you have in Zimbabwe ? Outsiders like me are just waiting for regime change, as I suppose you are…I just cant figure how any sane person there can vote for Uncle Bob with the mess he’s created.
December 5th, 2005 23:50
{{{ hugs }}}
December 7th, 2005 15:07
Noktula considers herself to be luckier than most in Zimbabwe – she tells me that she clears just over 3.5 million Zimbabwe dollars a month. The minimum wage (for domestic workers – there isn’t a ’single’ minimum wage) however is Z$850 000 . In other words, not enough money to buy even one can of shaving foam at the price described in Noktula’s post. Agricultural workers earn even less: Chipo blogged recently that her brother, for example, was earning Z$500 000 a month (link here).
Employers are struggling to cope. While they recognise that the minimum wage needs to go up for people to survive, every time it is pushed up by the government, more businesses close, and that of course leads to increased unemployment and hardship for more people in our country.
May 30th, 2007 13:28
hey is this a book u wrote because i love the grinch and if so can u tell me abit about thanx
my hotmail address it there write back to me on it