What happened to candy and magazines?!

[Ghoulish Delight]

I feel sorry for kids today.

We used to have candy drives. And when we weren't having candy drives, we were having magazine drives. And our schools made BANK. One year, our very motivated first grade class sold several thousand dollars worth of candy alone. Once class! It was awesome. The candy was affordable, the magazines were actually heavily discounted. Everyone in the neighborhood loved candy/magazine drives.

But now, at least in OC, it's all about those terrible holiday catalogs. 15 ugly wrapping papers, sappy christmas ornaments, 3 kinds of unapatizing candy, and way too many cookie mixes. And all for horribly inflated prices. Useless.

One parent here at work has had his kid's catalog sitting in a common space at work for several weeks now. There are two orders on the sheet. 500 employees, two orders. Who the hell is going to pay $10 for enough wrapping paper to wrap a gift and a half?

And just to make things worse, today a second, identical catalog has appeared next to it. I'll feel real sorry for the first guy if this one starts getting orders, but somehow I doubt it.

Reader's Digest, where are you?!?!