The way Christmas should be; used to be

Let's trip down memory lane for a minute.

Back in the day before Big Box stores took over Christmas. Before crowds camped out in the cold parking lot so they could stampede the place at the crack of dawn and run each other over in search of the latest techno-toy.

Back in the day when people wished each other a Merry Christmas and meant it. Before political correctness made people began couching their greetings with "If you celebrate Christmas, may I wish you a merry one?"

Was it all that long ago that we looked forward to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, when there was no Black Friday, Black Monday, or day after Christmas sales -- even stores that were closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

When did The Retailer edge out the baby in the manger and Santa Claus? How do we get them back?

Something is missing in the Christmas season. Maybe it's a day or several spent baking special cookies, making divinity, the smell of good things from the oven. Or could it be the scent of a cedar tree that was dragged in from outside, its trunk chopped a bit more so the top didn't brush the ceiling? When did trees become designer accessories with a color scheme — a theme for Pete's sake? What happened to the colorful lights and strands of tinsel and ornaments festooned with glitter?

I miss the Christmases when I would count up my babysitting money and head to Woolworths. Woolworths was there year round, but at Christmas it became magical. A trip to Woolworths meant lunch at the counter — a burger and fries, their light and airy cheesecake, exquisite egg salad sandwiches. Then a trip through the store to buy Evening in Paris or Desert Flower gift sets, the latest trend in costume jewelry, a record or two after you asked the clerk to play it first to make sure it didn't skip. There were Old Spice gift sets, a wonderland of toys, necklaces and earrings to match, coffee mugs, chip and dip servers — you could buy something for everyone on your gift list and have some left over to get yourself the latest Cutex nail polish color. With a matching lipstick sometimes.

No one pushed, no one shoved. You savored the bright lights, smells from the lunch counter, music in the air, and when you were ready to check out you stopped by the candy counter for a bag of bridge mix to take home.

Forget crowded parking lots, overheated big mart stores, space aliens and big mean transformers, pink plastic trees, and keeping the receipts in case you need to take something back, or dolls so far beyond puberty they would disdain the little girls who treasure them if those little girls didn't look like they can't wait for their boobs to develop.

Bring back department store Santas, who could easily pass for the real guy. Bring back the cold nights with dress up clothes to wear to the school Christmas plays. Bring back getting warm PJs for Christmas, and snuggly slippers. Hot chocolate and sugar cookies. Hard candy and nuts you have to crack. Oranges and tangerines dropped in stockings along with candy canes.

Heck, bring back Woolworths! Christmas hasn't been right since it closed!