Walmart Announcer (2:42)

It's.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (2:45)

Stuff it. Overbearing and annoying. Constant reminder you're not happy. And you think, am I the only one out there who's not happy during the holidays? The answer is no. There are a lot of sad people walking around with happy for the holiday masks on. Another category of people. By the way, some of this information I got from YourTango.com and I go to them a lot. They have great articles, very intelligent, in depth articles. Better than mainstream media places. Okay? Second group is introverts. Between a lot of holiday parties, family gatherings, it's kind of impossible to avoid people during the holiday without being considered a Scrooge or a Grinch. And they ask you, have you been? What are you doing? What are you up to? And when you're kind of introverted, you don't want to be asked a lot of questions. It's annoying. You just want to be handed a drink and some food. Leave me alone. Listen to music, watch other people talk. It's okay. Another category of people who are not doing well for holidays in general is people who have suffered a loss. Could be recent, could be 10 years ago. It's sort of interesting that holiday times have the power to make any loss seem recent. Could have lost somebody 20 years ago that you really cared about. And you're reminded at Christmas that they're not here and you miss them. You had a grandpa who did some Christmas cool, funny things, rang some sleigh bells over the phone on Christmas Eve. Did that to everybody. You miss it, you know.

Walmart Announcer (5:08)

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State Farm Announcer (5:40)

If your small business is booming and ready to expand, you might say something like, it's happening.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (5:47)

Yes, crushed it.

State Farm Announcer (5:49)

But if you need someone who can actually help protect your growing business, just say like a good neighbor, State Farm. He's there. And just like that, your State Farm agent can help you get the coverage you need for your new space for your small business insurance needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (6:06)

There.

Walmart Announcer (6:08)

Holidays feeling hectic? Pillsbury is here to lend a hand. Roll out some magic with cookies, crescents, crusts and more. Fresh from the oven to tis the season for big smiles and easy wins with Pillsbury.

Walmart Announcer (6:23)

The who's down and who Newville were making their list, but some didn't know Walmart has the best brands for their gifts.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (6:29)

What about toys? Do they have brands? Kids have been wanting all year. Yep.

Walmart Announcer (6:33)

Barbie, Tonys and Lego gifts that will make them all cheer.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (6:37)

Do you mean they have all the brands I adore?

Walmart Announcer (6:39)

They have Nintendo, Nespresso, Apple and more.

Walmart Announcer (6:43)

What about so the who answered questions from friends till they were blue? Each one listened and shouted from Walmart.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (6:49)

Who knew?

Walmart Announcer (6:50)

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Lowe's Announcer (6:55)

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Dr. Laura Schlessinger (7:28)

Another category of people who are not overjoyed is people on an intense budget. Because if you're interested in staying out of debt, Christmas can be a very annoying time of the year because it's not a religious holiday, it's a commercial holiday, it's a family gathering holiday in general. People are not sitting around thinking of Jesus. They're thinking of how much that gift is going to cost them and is anybody going to send a thank you note. And that's just reality. If Christmas time had nothing to do with gift giving, I don't think there'd be so much sadness around it. So you have the cost of decorations, of gifts, more gifts, wrapping paper, scotch tape, airline tickets if you have to fly. But most people are driving these days or giving tickets to relatives. They can come to you. Food, more gifts, the rest of it. Another category of human beings are people who tend to overbook their lives and they're very busy. I don't have time for anything. Got a lot of kids trying to bring in money to feed everybody and pay your bills. A lot of responsibilities, caretaking ill folk. Some people are just overwhelmed as it is. Biggest category of miserable people is people with family problems. Your spouse, your annoying in laws, your overbearing parents, competitive sibling, infinite possibilities. You're trying to bring people together, half of whom don't like each other, don't want to be there. I have so many letters with these situations. One woman, it made me so sad. I hope she calls in but maybe she's listening. Okay. She's got a son and a daughter in law and a husband. Husband has a business. Husband hired the son. Husband also hired the daughter in Law who turns out to be a shrew. She described the behavior. Overbearing, demanding, entitled. She's a real piece of work. So they got rid of her. That made for bad feeling in the family. The husband, who evidently is a bit of a limp dick as far as I'm concerned, listening to it all, hired her back just after she gave birth. So she's bringing a screaming baby into the company and the manager said, we can't have this. We got customers, we got work going on. The husband permits this, she gets fired again. Nobody wants to talk to them. So they don't want to talk to the husband anymore because he finally said, that's enough. So he's not a limp dick anymore. He was for a moment. And now the wicked witch of the west, the daughter in law is just not going to permit the husband, her husband to have anything to do with them or the kids. And the son just stands by and lets her be a shrewd. We had a couple of shrews last week and I comment to the man, how can you let your woman be a shrew? Forget you. If you're going to be a limp dick, I don't care. But how can you let her be a shrew to other people and the family and friends? How can you permit that? William Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew. Read the book, the play. Sorry. So, family problems. There's always somebody in the family who creates havoc. Drunk, addicted, just mean and stupid. Out of control. Just. They're people. Last but not least, at the end of the year, we're all reflecting on the whole year. Something in this article. It's at the end. I'd like to read it as is. The holidays are a time when people reflect on the previous year and are supposed to find things to be thankful for. And sometimes that's difficult. You write, I don't send out Christmas letters, but if I did, a lot of years would include details like, let's see, what am I thankful for? I enjoyed a variety of tasty samples at Costco, vacuumed up the raisins and animal cracker crumbs out of my minivan. Those details would have made it into the letter to spare people details of illness, divorce and death. There's no right way to feel during the holidays. If you love the holidays and consider them joyous and merry, that's awesome. Just know that you're probably encountering a lot of people who are faking it while thinking, is it January 2nd yet? And if you aren't happy during the holidays, you are not alone and you are not a Grinch. The article was in. Danny Bostick wrote the entire article from which I excerpt Commentary. Your tango my number 1-800-375-2872. If you like this podcast, be sure to rate it on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen to my podcast. Of course, I'd love if you gave me five stars. And be sure to share this podcast with a friend on Facebook or your preferred social media platform.

Etsy Announcer (13:48)

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