Getting Off on the Right Foot.

I’ve read several references recently to some arcane practice called ‘baby showers.’ I say ‘arcane,’ because the term was a complete mystery to me. I did notice, however, that all mentions of it came from Americans, so I wondered whether it might have something to do with The Pilgrim Fathers, the decommissioning of Ellis Island, or maybe Custer’s Last Stand. You know, something to celebrate. Apparently not. I read Kaetlyn’s blog tonight, and discovered the truth of it.

It seems there’s a practice in America of dragging friends, family and other sundry beings to a party for the benefit of a new infant. That benefit, apparently, consists of showering said infant with a plethora of goodies to fill the toy box, the attic, the linen cupboard and the garden shed. I exaggerate, of course. Or do I?

Now, there are two notable gaps in my knowledge of this subject.

The first is whether this is an exclusively American practice or whether it’s a worldwide phenomenon. The fact that I’d never heard of it doesn’t mean we don’t do it over here. Maybe we do. We bought into Disney, Dallas and MacDonald’s, so why not baby showers? Maybe I’m just behind the times.

The second concerns its genesis. Does it stem from some old, traditional practice or is it recent? Either way, it seems to me that the corporate executives and shareholders must be laughing all the way to their equally enraptured bankers. Not only have they managed to find yet another way to enrich themselves in a gloriously sustainable way, they’re also providing for the security of their bloated futures by ensuring that babies start off on the right foot - by being conditioned at the earliest opportunity to associate happiness and attainment with the Having of Lots of Things.

This is not an anti-American post. This is a daft-society-that-allows-itself-to-be-dragged-behind-the-corporate-gravy-train post. Most ‘developed’ cultures are guilty of that.