Consumerism; Benefits

So in the event that our consumerist society benefits me, I cannot deny that I enjoy it. For instance, Christmas is awesome in my family. We don't go super insane with the number of gifts, but everyone always manages to get at least one big gift. Here's my haul for the year, and no, I am not trying to brag:

Little Stuff:
-scale with body fat% function
-hat with led lights
-crappy joke gifts from brother
-"100 Years of Solitude"
-Brita water purifying pitcher thing
-Ms. Jerry Seinfeld's cookbook
-cash
-gift certificates (Durant's, Sprout's)
-food processor

Big Stuff:
-Espresso machine
-this laptop that I'm using right now

That's right, I was given a laptop by my parents, who must be tired of my home PC constantly crashing. This thing is pretty basic, but super dope regardless. A little Dell 14" wide screen Vostro 1400. I'm going to have fun updating LAL remotely.
My brother gave me the espresso machine, which is awesome, because he had to go to quite some lengths to find this one. Apparently only Sears.com had it in the end.
We normally do a Christmas at my Dad's side of the family as well, with gifts and all that, but we decided not to do a gift exchange this year. Instead, we did stockings and had food and just chilled out. It is kind of awkward going to that side of the family. It's very small talk. It's very personal space, which is a weird concept when it comes to family. Or at least, I don't think there should be such a coldness within family. It was nice not having to do the gift exchange, though.