By Virgil G. Madriñan, NJ

The gap between the haves and have-nots is always there, but in no other time of the year is it more pronounced than during the Holiday Season and in places like New York City. In my daily commute to work, I see this contrast and its paradox.

Riding in the same car of the subway train are the men in three-piece suit who make a bundle on Wall Street standing side by side with the panhandlers with a styrofoam cup asking for change. On the busy streets of the Big Apple, ladies dressed in their finest walk next to the beggar in tattered, dirty coats. In the early morning hours, the homeless sleep on sidewalks in full view of people coming from warm, comfortable homes.

The above scenario of the "Rich Man, Poor Man" is played out time and again both in real life and on the stages of Broadway.

The Holiday Season has its virtues and its sins. For some inexplicable reason, people seem to be more generous and thoughtful during the Holidays. This is fine. How wonderful it would be if we could only spread it out throughout the year.

The same is true of thoughtfulness. What is it about the Holidays that makes us remember people? We send and receive tons of Christmas cards, we buy presents and throw lavish parties for friends. Is it any wonder why people feel so drained after the Holidays --- they try to squeeze in all their good deeds in so short a time. Would that people do good evenly during the 4 seasons!

People decry the commercialization and secularization of Christmas. "Christmas has turned into one big business," some complain. It is has become bonanza for merchants. "It has lost all its religious meaning," lament others. It has become one big show and an orgy of pageantries and parties.

The complaint might be true, but I feel the reason behind it hollow. True, Christmas in the outside world may be too commercial and secular. But who says it has to be that way? Who dictates how Christmas is to be celebrated anyway? I think it is still in the power of every person to make Christmas the way s/he wants it to be. Who is holding him back from making his Christmas more spiritual, if that’s what s/he wants?

I must confess we have been willing participants and have indulged in the excesses of the Holidays. Between Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day, we have been to parties just about every weekend. Good and enjoyable as the parties are, I just cringe at the amount of food I see going to waste.

Equally guilty of excess are companies who throw lavish parties for their employees. I have been to a few parties and I can say they all shared one common problem: there were not enough tables to hold the food they served. Meanwhile, the homeless people on the street are scavenging trash receptacles for food. Strange world we live in!

With all the good intentions, sometimes people’s generosity is misplaced. The very same people who spend big bucks to throw a party find it difficult to dip into their pockets to find a dollar bill for the Salvation Army pot.

I am grateful to the people who give my kids toys for Christmas, but sometimes I can’t help but feel that we give the kids the wrong message: That more is better. Children (I am talking about mine) receive more toys in one Christmas than I had during my entire life. Yet I have not seen as many kids with so many toys who are so bored.

I feel it is a pointless waste when I see the "must-have" toys lying on the floor the day after Christmas with decapitated heads and amputated arms and legs. Kids seem to be like the Vandals of old --- their enjoyment stems from plundering and destroying everything and anything on their way.

I am aware and believe that comparison is unfair. Also I am not making my time the standard. I am just using it as a point of reference.