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I hate how the driving force behind the holiday is the consumer aspect of it. It is the same for many other holidays but it comes to a pinnacle for Christmas. It is all about an exchange of goods as signs of respect/affection/obligation and I hate it. I don't celebrate it for a great many reasons (a loved one being cursed with a Christmas Birthday and getting shafted his whole life being one) but I am forced to tolerate it everywhere I go and given a hard time for my choices.
Even in childhood I struggled with Christmas. We were not well off but I was delighted and thrilled by my meager stash of gifts, that is until I returned to school. Everyone else in my class got more than I did. What caused a real dilemma for me was that my friend who was a trouble maker, for whom Santa actually put coal in his stocking routinely, got considerably more presents than I. Which gave rise to the question "Why doesn't Santa like me?" I was a good girl (sort of) and yet other people who were not as good got more. Maybe I thought too hard, maybe I still do.
I overheard a woman the other day complaining to her shopping companion that her kids don't appreciate her. So she'd taken out a 5000.00 loan to buy them gifts for Christmas to make sure that they did. The "Christmas Spirit" is strong in that one.
If I had to show what Christmas has come to mean these days I would simply point someone to one of the many "Black Friday" videos in which people are brawling and generally acting like animals over the goods we are told we need.
I like thanksgiving better, it is just about getting together with family and friends, eating and celebrating. Not so much of the consumer glut involved. There are just as many chances for kindness and service to humanity available with donations or volunteering at soup kitchens etc. Except that Christmas is encroaching, Christmas decorations are going up in October and now Black Friday Sales start on Thanksgiving Day.
Even in childhood I struggled with Christmas. We were not well off but I was delighted and thrilled by my meager stash of gifts, that is until I returned to school. Everyone else in my class got more than I did. What caused a real dilemma for me was that my friend who was a trouble maker, for whom Santa actually put coal in his stocking routinely, got considerably more presents than I. Which gave rise to the question "Why doesn't Santa like me?" I was a good girl (sort of) and yet other people who were not as good got more. Maybe I thought too hard, maybe I still do.
I overheard a woman the other day complaining to her shopping companion that her kids don't appreciate her. So she'd taken out a 5000.00 loan to buy them gifts for Christmas to make sure that they did. The "Christmas Spirit" is strong in that one.
If I had to show what Christmas has come to mean these days I would simply point someone to one of the many "Black Friday" videos in which people are brawling and generally acting like animals over the goods we are told we need.
I like thanksgiving better, it is just about getting together with family and friends, eating and celebrating. Not so much of the consumer glut involved. There are just as many chances for kindness and service to humanity available with donations or volunteering at soup kitchens etc. Except that Christmas is encroaching, Christmas decorations are going up in October and now Black Friday Sales start on Thanksgiving Day.