Have yourself a conscientious Christmas

"If I get something for her, I have to get something for him!" I say to myself walking down the aisles of a department store.

"And if I get something for him, I have to get something for her!"

Noticing a pattern here? That's right. It's your guilty conscience at work. It's Christmas time and buying gifts is something you can't afford to forget. Although Christmas is meant for love, spending time with family and making merry, none of those things can be accomplished these days without a digital camera and a $100 gift certificate to American Eagle.

When adolescents shop for gifts, however, it's on a much lower scale due to limited resources (the green stuff). Those of you with parents who so lovingly give it out are lucky, although there is usually a stopping point with them, too. Then there's the kids with jobs -- such as myself (humbly speaking). These are the kids who make on average between $150 to $200 every couple of weeks.

Hours of working have finally paid off ... and now it's time for Christmas shopping. It's so very sad to see the money rolling off my fingertips as I buy multiple picture frames for those hard-to-buy-for people on my list. That's one thing I've learned. Picture frames are great unisex (stifled laughter) gifts that you can give to anyone.

Although a lot of people see jobless young adults as spoiled, just remember they are some of the luckiest kids around. I faintly remember my days of going from party to party making new friends. That was shot down immediately when I got a job. The worst feeling is when you're working on a Saturday night and you happen to run into some friends.

"Hey Sam!" they say as they come toward me with excited faces. "We just got back from this awesome party at so-and-so's, and now we're all going to eat at Taco Bell. Afterward, we're going to steal the Chick Filet van in the mall parking lot and throw watermelons at random people! See ya!" As I stand and watch them skip away with Mariah Carey singing Christmas carols in the distance, I look down at the Bratz doll in my hand and in the other, a Barbra Streisand Greatest Hits CD. Where did I go wrong? Now that I've thought about it, none of my friends -- besides the ones contributing to American society -- deserve gifts. The others, however ... well, let's just say I'm not seeing a picture frame in their futures.

Sam DeReign is a senior at Oran High School. Contact him at sdereign@semissourian.com.