Inflation and the Waste of Money

OK... I am not sure which, but either I must be getting old or inflation must be getting really bad. Every time I find myself going to Uncle Wally's Place or some other store, I see things that cost way more than they should. Last night, my wife and I had to stop in in Wally's Place for a couple of items. When we checked out, we had some laundry detergent, a couple pairs of panty hose and a small gift for her exchange at work. I was stunned when the total came up to over $48. My wife must have been too, because she made a comment to the cashier about how sad this was to walk out with one small bag and a bottle of detergent and it cost nearly $50. Crazy. But it gets worse.

While she was looking around for her little gift ($10 limit) I was walking around looking at the aisles full of junk they had for Christmas "gifts". I mean, this stuff was JUNK! I saw these Christmas stockings there that were obviously cheap, meant to be used once before they tore up. They were two simple pieces of felt sewn together with a little glitter dabbled on them, and they sold for $12.99. Hello?
$13 of my hard earned money for THAT!
Then I saw these little booties (socks) with a small bottle of smelly stuff and they were labeled "Aroma Therapy Booties." Price tag: $9.99.
You know, I may be a bit slow at times, but this is just stupid. A pair of socks that you could not even wear with shoes, and some cheap smelling perfume and they are gonna take $10 of my money? I don't think so!
How about that bottle of Tide? $17.88 for a bottle of detergent. Good grief!
I looked at the soup aisle. $1.33 for a can of Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup.
Good lord, what is going on. I still recall getting 10 cans of Campbell's for a buck!

Back to my original thought.
What really amazed me was how the people were grabbing up all this cheap/over-priced stuff. I thought to myself, "How sad that people will spend $10-$15 for a cheap, meaningless item that will most likely sit on someone's shelf for a few months before it either gets tossed in the trash or sold in a yard sale for a quarter. And they do it just so that their conscience does not feel guilty for not buying a gift for second cousin twice removed, Sally. Where did this crap come from that we feel obligated to buy a gift for everyone we know?

People! This is NOT what Christmas is about.
Stop the insanity, put your money back in your billfold or purse and just tell someone that you love them. It will mean far more than those aroma therapy booties!