Just needed said. Some solidarity for those who have hated the stupid charade for years as I have.
Stupid holiday for stupid plastic people doing stupid plastic things. Stupid shit like "thinking of you" gifts... (seriously? once a year a little trinket qualifies? How about a random hug or minor favor? Costs nothing and doesn't require a special holiday!). Or is Christmas about seeing family? If you gave a crap, you'd see them the rest of the year and it'd just be another day, eh? As for the religious example, I'll celebrate Easter and we'll leave it there.
The grinch had it right, right from the get-go. It's socially off to say it, but holding my tongue just gives me ulcers.
Fuck Christmas.
Ho Ho Ho
funkin A
It may be commercialzed and without true meaning anymore but its still a holiday.....
Holidayz R Good!
just consider it a couple of extra vacation days!
KOokaloo!
Yep, the true meaning was lost long ago with my credit rating.. :dash2:
CraigO
Andy I hear you. It truly has become a manufactured consumer holiday event. Having no religion myself Xmas day is about eating good food that I have made with my family and that's it. New Years is basically the same but with some friends too and of course REALLY good champagne.
Up where I live the stores started setting up Xmas displays before Remembrance Day (Veterans Day) and started playing Christmas carols the second the wreaths had been laid. Who on this planet enjoys hearing Rhianna destroy "O Holy Night" ? But when the retail sector has come to depend on the Xmas sales for 50-60% of their total yearly income (and I'm thinking more about those jobs then anything else) what are you going do?
I agree with fuck Christmas, ...but... my kids still love it, so I try and keep my comments to a minimum until after it is over.
Have a good New Year.
After our mother died tragically at a very young age every Christmas was exactly like any other day for me and my siblings. We were children. December 25th was the same as April 25th or July 25th. No tree, no decorations, ....no nothing. The only difference was it was cold outside. We did get a couple of unwrapped toys. Good times.
I'm down with the program on this topic. Here's a little ditty from my misspent youth as an 80s punk rocker that sez it all:
Fear - Fuck Christmas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbTULjLtKP4#)
Don't worry.....Jesus and his lawyer are coming back to make it right. :good:
Kevin Bloody Wilson Hey Santa Claus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEe55NxFSSU#ws)
Having my young sons wake up at 5:00AM and bug me to get out of bed were....in great hindsight.....the greatest feeling I could ever achieve. Saying "F" Christmas are the words of somebody who has never known the joy and are certainly the words of somebody who has never had it stolen from them. I feel sorry for you.
^^ I agree 1000% with Mike. Christmas is for the kids and these sad sacks don't qualify.
Kids feel "special" at Xmas and these guys must have missed out. It sounds like their parents never made them feel special or maybe they just forgot.
Mike, I feel bad for your experience.
So listen up ya mugs, here's Fr.Paddy's unsolicited holiday advice:
Go get some gratitude ya stumble bums. You will see things differently.
If you are having problems with your self-esteem....Go do esteem-able things. You will feel better. Go wash dishes in a soup kitchen. Go babysit a wineo while he goes thru the DT's. Go volunteer somewhere. Go help someone without them knowing who did it.
Go do something and get off 'yer pity pot.
Merry Christmas good folks. If you have kids enjoy them, they grow up much too fast. If you have grandkids spoil the shit out of them. Get your revenge.
Christmas is for the kids? Between this and their birthday, right? What about the rest of the year? Better still, this is the time of year where we all convince our children that Santa is coming! Golly, I'll bet they can't wait until they're a little older and find out that their parents and other adults they trust have been lying to them! So exciting!
Buying people gifts or showing you appreciate them is best done like a compliment.... not in a contrived way, but in a genuine one.
The worst part of the lot is when you say that you dislike Christmas, as I do. If it was, say, asparagus that I told someone I disliked, they'd say "Gosh, that's too bad, I really enjoy it. I'll just eat yours then!". If it's Christmas, you get told to "buck up, everybody likes Christmas".
No. We don't.
If I say that I don't want anything this year, that's promptly ignored by pretty much everyone. Well gosh, thanks, I'm so special to you that you ignore my fucking clearly stated desires each year, now I have some item that I said I didn't want, thank you? As a kid, I didn't care for it much, but as an adult that dislike has grown year by year.
I don't mind that so many people really enjoy the holidays, seeing family, eating well, and the surprise and fun of gift giving. What I mind is when I say that I don't want to be part of it, and am promptly ignored. Quite possibly my favorite Christmas ever was in 2002. My father was about 7 weeks from death, and everyone knew it (end-stage kidney cancer). No one felt the need for artificial and plastic good cheer, so we basically skipped the holiday completely. Losing my father was a blow, but the silver lining was undoubtedly having a quiet December.
See how this works? Thanks Andy for making me grateful for what I have in my life.
Do you have kids? I didn't think so....
Say, by the way, can I have your presents? (popcorn)
And that's good and fine, Pat! I'm glad you're happy with how things have gone for you! I'm happy with how things have gone for me, too!
I don't have kids, obviously not, and by personal choice. But the people in my life that I do have that I love, I don't dedicate a special day to lie to them, even if it makes them happy. Seems creepy and underhanded a pinch, yes? What if it worked like that for adults? Hallmark would have a field day, undoubtedly... they could make "I never loved you but it made you so happy when I said I did" cards, wouldn't that be great?
There are days that I celebrate, there are foods I enjoy, there's activities I adore, there's people I love. If someone disagrees with me, doesn't celebrate those days, dislikes those foods, is bored by those activities, or hates those people, I don't brush them off and tell them that they're going to celebrate/eat/do/like those, like it or not. I make an effort to show why I like those various things, and if they have reasons for not sharing in those things that are special to me, I don't abuse them over it (unless I didn't like those people in the first place!). I'm just always amazed, shocked, and a bit disgusted that so many people can't respect the wishes of those who dislike Christmas.
Quote from: andyb on December 23, 2011, 11:05:57 AM
....if they have reasons for not sharing in those things that are special to me, I don't abuse them over it (unless I didn't like those people in the first place!). I'm just always amazed, shocked, and a bit disgusted that so many people can't respect the wishes of those who dislike Christmas.
I hope you don't think that is the case here Andy. I enjoy your company. I don't mean to abuse or argue with you, I'm just relating my experiences.
I just happen to agree with Mike (JMR) and he sounds to me like he has painful firsthand knowledge about life with, and without, Xmas.
Here is what he PM'ed me:.
"Thank God we have at least one day a year where we have the opportunity to reflect and experience some joy. I went years without it and I can honestly say life is much better with it!..."
Yep, I agree with that.....
I feel sorry for anyone who only finds happiness and joy one day per year.
I find many times throughout the year that are happy. Most of them are during riding season.. coincidence? :) All I really want for Christmas is for it not to be Christmas for me. That's all. You don't have to eat my asparagus, but I don't want to eat yours, y`know? If you refuse mine, I'm not going to spoon it into your mouth because "everybody likes it" and "you do too, admit it!"
Quote from: andyb on December 23, 2011, 11:40:23 AM
I feel sorry for anyone who only finds happiness and joy one day per year.
Yep, me too, but the reality is many folks are having a bad, bad year. Our 2 local homeless shelters are full with families.
Again, Xmas is for kids. Adults can get into the magic by reflecting, getting grateful, giving thanks and helping others.
Andy, you should see the looks on those kids faces when they open their presents. For a moment, just a moment, they believe that they are special.
Not wanting to be straying too far into this.
But on your statment - "All I really want for Christmas is for it not to be Christmas for me. That's all."
It will always be Christmas for you too as you can not make Christmas disappear for you alone as it is everywhere around you.
For you this thing called Christmas is not a special time of the year for many legitimate reasons and the way you appear to deal with this is to opt out of Christmas as best as practical/possible.
You choose not to partipate in the event and I can understand that.
Not participating is how you create distance between you and Christmas due to the pain that you have associated with this time of the year due to your personal life experiences.
I do not think anyone has the right to tell you a thing about why or how you should choose to conduct yourself at Christmas.
It is a free country and while we sometimes buy into a belief that we can understand each other, there are limits.
And, while we mostly do try to live good lives, many of us at least. It is horse crap to think that Christmas changes a great deal of the defective behavior and conditions of the world we live in. But it is fun for some to buy into that illusion.
The interesting question is who is more real about Christmas. People who do not participate due to their own experiences and their own choice. Or, those who do participate and choose to put reality on hold and celibrate in their own way with their own kin.
Beats me.
Quote from: andyb on December 23, 2011, 11:40:23 AM
I feel sorry for anyone who only finds happiness and joy one day per year.
I find many times throughout the year that are happy. Most of them are during riding season.. coincidence? :) All I really want for Christmas is for it not to be Christmas for me. That's all. You don't have to eat my asparagus, but I don't want to eat yours, y`know? If you refuse mine, I'm not going to spoon it into your mouth because "everybody likes it" and "you do too, admit it!"
Me too Andy.....and my mother in law has lived with us for 15 years. :scratch_one-s_head:
(http://wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/fuck-you-santa.jpg)