Gift-wrapped groceries

Parents during that bygone era might have been able to get away with a relatively inexpensive holiday (especially given the propensity to wrap grocery items).
These days, a newly released Wii game costs at least US$49. Four games later, you’re into the spirit an easy US$200, while the packaging amounts to barely two inches stacked under the tree.
Are the holidays about quantity or quality, things or memories, food or friends? Last weekend, I watched the movie “Morning Glory,” a romantic comedy starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton (not all romantically linked) in which the character played by McAdams works as a TV producer for a morning television program. The morning show contains many dysfunctional characters and is struggling to stay on the air. (SPOILER ALERT: She eventually turns down a pristine job on the “Today” show to remain with her hard-working colleagues and friends, where she finds happiness.)