How To Make The Holidays Last. In A Bad Way.

I work in the financial services industry. I give credit.

That might surprise you if you're a long time reader of this blog--you know how staunchly opposed to debt I am.

I sometimes dream of getting out of my current job and finding one more in line with my personal beliefs. A job where I don't make anyone more unhealhty, and I don't add to anybody's debt.

Well, I was standing in the customer service area of a major retail chain today. Five days before Christmas, and the customer service station was bustling. The crowds didn't surprise me. I normally avoid stores around the holidays precisely so I can avoid that kind of scene.

What did surprise me was this: The masses of people weren't exchanging gifts or returning broken merchandise. They were all, almost to a person, there to apply for credit.

I listened as all around me their new credit limits were announced. The kid who couldn't have been more than 20, but who had a two year old in his cart got $2,000. The middle aged Hispanic couple got $2,300.

All of the normal tricks of the credit card companies were being employed. The young man was careful to make sure he'd been approved for the 0% APR--it was only afterwards they told him it would only apply to some of his purchases. The middle-aged man wanted to cancel the free trials of magazines that would automatically renew onto his card after a few weeks, but the salesgirl mostly ignored his broken English, and his wife really wanted to get home.

And in my mind's eye I could almost see all of them being lured into a pit by the salespeople, clutching the products their credit would purchase, telling themselves they needed them, that they were necessary, that the things would make life easier or happier or calmer or somehow just better, and with a better life it would be so much easier to climb out of the pit.

Well, it's not true. Climbing out of the pit is never easy. Every farmer and fruit grower knows there's not a thing in this world that is created from nothing--you've got to put labor in for whatever you get. Blood, sweat, and tears.

And the price of having it now is even more blood sweat and tears than if you'd just worked for it first.

Many retail chains are now at a point where they operate their store fronts at a minimum of profit, or even at a loss, because the value they get from all the financing is so great. Who needs to make a profit now when there's 10, 15, or even 20% to be made off that purchase for possibly years to come?

Other chains realize they no longer have to charge what people can afford. They can charge what people are willing to charge. So they're not having to keep prices down to what people can pay for something, since they can always swipe their cards.

So while I might wish to become not just debt-free, but to separate even my livelihood from being connected with that gnawing monster, I know I'm cutting myself off from huge swaths of occupations at one swipe.

In fact, what I really want to do most is teach and train--not a very lucrative proposition in a society that's been taught to value having more than knowing.

So here's to you having a holiday where the memories last longer than the bills, retail stores getting back into the business of selling stuff, and me finding a job that doesn't leech off people.

Ho ho ho.

Biggest Loser Season Finale

So, the twins won it.

That was pretty exciting.

You could tell Julie really, really wanted it, and she did pretty well. But the fact is, it's just hard for women to lose more weight than men. Men are inherently more capable of losing weight simply because their bodies carry more muscle and aren't as naturally inclined to store fat. When a woman does win the Biggest Loser, it will be a huge deal. And she will probably be coached by Jillian.

Jillian did great this season, with all four finalists being from her team, and both winners being from her team. According to the stats on NBC.com, her team also lost the most weight total, by over 100 pounds. Her team lost 822 pounds, while Bob's blue team lost 711 pounds and Kim's red team lost 666 pounds (No, I won't make a "mark of the beast" joke about Kim, though I'm tempted).

I was really expecting that either Brian or Neil to win it for the folks who went home--they both looked great.

But no, the twins sailed through.

Now we've got the new season coming up, with the couples in lots of different colors. Not sure how that season is going to play out. I originally thought they were doing "couples" as a way of evening out that guy/girl divide that's always been a big deal in the finale, but looking at the teams for this season, they've got guy/guy teams and girl/girl teams, so that gives those guy/guy teams a huge advantage.

We'll see how it comes out.

Eating At Restaurants

There's an interesting article over at MSN about secrets the restaurants don't want you to know.

With it being the holiday season, I've been eating out for work. A lot. The highlights were Duane's Steakhouse at the Mission Inn in Riverside, and Ten Asian Bistro in Newport Beach.

The damages, weight-wise, haven't been horrible--I weigh exactly what I weighed when I started doing the tale of the tape thing again.

Of course, I try to avoid some of the biggest restaurant calorie bombs:

Soda I never drink anything but water. I've gone on before about the bad effects of soda. To sum up, basically it's pure sugar, meaning pure fast-absorbed calories. Even diet soda has problems, my favorite being that the carbonation acts like an anti-fiber, making your body absorb calories and things faster than it would without it.

Fried Stuff Yeah, throwing stuff in the deep fryer is easy for restaurants, and there's a reason they call it golden brown and delicious. But it's oil on top of whatever simple carb they use in the breading--it's calories on top of calories. Plus, recent studies have shown that the Maillard reaction--the chemical process that browns fried foods--may interfere with your body's ability to absorb protein. So you may not be getting all the nutrients from the shrimp or calamari under there, either.

The Free Stuff They Put On The Table Whether it's bread or chips, that complimentary stuff they put out there does have calories. If you choose to much, be mindful and consider it part of the meal--if you do go in for the bread, than maybe opt for vegetables instead of the potato with your entree.

Of course, since I was actually trying to lose weight, still being at the weight I was isn't really all that much of accomplishment. However, it does give me hope that once I do get my weight back down, there will be plenty of delicious options that can help me stay that way.

(At least, that's how I'm trying to spin it . . .)