Top Ten Reasons Why I Don't Celebrate Christmas

-
It's no secret. I dislike Christmas. I hated it when I was non-Christian and I haven't changed my stance since becoming Christian. I've written on the topic many times, but I've never laid out the many reasons that color my opinion. To make it easy, I decided to put together a Top Ten list. As usual, the order has nothing to do with importance.

1. 'As Seen on TV' products. They define the inanity of Christmas retail. No one needs these products. No one. So why are people buying them? Because they need to buy gifts for everyone and have no idea what to buy. News flash - if you don't know what to buy someone, you don't need to buy them anything.

2. The proliferation of re-gifting. If you didn't like/want/need it, what makes you think someone else will? How about you just skip the gift giving all together?

3. Jesus in a Santa suit. I'd rather see Santa in a Jesus suit.

4. Let's be honest and call it what it is - Santa Claus Day. No one would fault me for not celebrating.

5. Black Friday that is slowly becoming Black Thursday and will eventually become Black Wednesday. Hell, we already have pre-Black Friday. It's dog-eat-dog in the world of retail, but when is enough enough?

6. Broke people getting even more broke spending money they don't have on gifts they don't need to give.

7. Christmas lights and assorted yard art. I'm sure it's worth the increased electric bill at a time when the electric bill is finally manageable.

8. People saying it's about peace on earth right before they start bitching about the in-laws they don't want to spend time with.

9. Non-religious people who bitch because some companies refer to Christmas trees as 'Holiday' trees. They're also the ones who say we need to keep 'Christ in Christmas'. I have a better idea - why don't we celebrate him year round and not just when we stand to get a bunch of gifts we'll end up re-gifting?

10. Fruitcake. No one likes it yet every Christmas it appears. Some call it tradition, I call it a waste of money.


And a bonus...

11. Radio stations that play Christmas music before Thanksgiving.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Biggest Fan

-
It comes for all of us. If we're lucky. Right now, I'm not sure I feel lucky, but I know in the days, weeks, months, and years to come, I will come to realize that I am. Or I was. My parents are elderly, eighty-four and ninety-two. From where I'm sitting at the moment - my mother's hospital room - it's doubtful that my mom will reach tomorrow, much less eighty-five, So here I sit. And write...while  my biggest fan lays a few feet away snoring like a freight train. Her snores mean she's still alive so rather than drowning them out with music, I listen, Intently. Because each one could be her last. It's the drugs - her pain was pretty severe - making her sleep so soundly. These same drugs, the ones that keep the pain at bay, may also hasten her death. Her decision. She's been kicking cancer's a** for the past seven years. My mom's no sissy; she can endure. But this isn't the cancer, the known quantity. This is an aneurysm, a ticking time bomb
Read more

Be That Person

-
 A friend texted me last night. Her almost twelve year old son is starting middle school today and she was more than a little stressed. I guess it's somewhat normal for parents to be nervous about such milestones in their children's lives. I mean sixth grade means a bigger school, perhaps switching classrooms, more complex homework assignments, etc, etc. I'm sure there's also some wistfulness about the whole thing. The "My baby's growing up" kinda thing. My friend's concerns last night (and again this morning) were far larger. You see, her son is different. He always has been. Not only is he on "the spectrum," he also has Tourettte's. And he's on the fringes of non-binary. Plus, he lives on the border of Texas and Arkansas in a place that is far from open-minded and falls just below marginally accepting. This is the land of conservative politics (ie Trump), gun rights, big religion, and the concomitant "family values" that i
Read more

A Little Unsteady

-
"Hold onto me...cuz I'm a little unsteady..." It's the first song that popped up on Pandora tonight. Kismet? Serendipity? I don't know. I had another opening line all picked out (and I'm sure I'll get to it in a bit), but sometimes...sometimes the Universe has other plans. Other ideas. Other directions. And often it's right. Absolutely, perfect right. Like tonight...today...all of it... I was unsteady. I am unsteady. For the first time nearly five years. Five years . This, of course, isn't a lying, narcissistic girlfriend or a bad break up of any kind. And for that I am thankful (Not that I couldn't use a nifty stint on the Break Up Diet). In many ways, it's something worse. Much, much worse. I'm being pulled in two directions, veritably (though not literally...physically speaking anyway) torn in two. It's not news that I'm moving to Las Vegas next month. In fact, I leave one month from today with the first load of my life.
Read more