According to a recent study in the UK, today is the most stressful day of the year. Reasons being the stress of holiday shopping, end of work deadlines and looming debt. Just throw in end of term papers, marking of other students’ papers and you’ve got my life story. But I’m still a sucker for the holidays. I don’t know why but I just can’t get past the giddiness of eating turkey with mashed tatters and far too much pie and the initial 30 seconds of waking up on Christmas morning when you realize “Holy shit, there’s a shitpile of gifts downstairs with my name on it. HUZZAH!”Keeping in mind that I am a lapsed Catholic and therefore I haven’t seen the Christ in Christmas in yeaaaars. But every year, I’m forced to endure the “It’s Merry Christmas dammit!” versus “No, it’s happy holidays!” debate. This just got a lot more complicated thanks to Misha Barton and her non-acting friends of The OC that made famous the moronic “Chanukah”. Barf.
I lean more towards the Happy Holidays myself, as I’m painfully left leaning and find it more inclusive. That and quite frankly, I’m friggin’ lazy and don’t want to cover ‘em all. So Happy Holidays is my blanket statement of “Hey, enjoy not being at work!”
But I truly believe people need to make a clear distinction between Christmas of the Jesus variety and Christmas of the Wal-Mart variety. Christmas trees, lead-paint toys, egg nog and Santa Claus have got nothing to do with the big JC. Jesus and Santa both had kicking beards but I think the comparisons end there.
And frankly, if there’s a division between Christmas and Christmas, or Christmas and Xmas, then we can scrap the whole Happy Holidays debate to begin with. And instead, we can focus on what really matters around the holidays. Which, as this article points out, should be about enjoying vacation time, hanging out with the family we actually care to talk to and opting out of buying people crap for the sake of it. (BTW, I couldn’t agree more)
Or for those of you who live Down Under and have nothing else to do, round up your pitch forks and shovels to penalize Santa Clauses for their use of HO HO HO.
I kid you not.
5 comments:
Another reason why I love being pagan, I can slip into my often misunderstood, most often confused solstice celebration and ignore the stress and debt of the holidays and sit back and laugh at all the confused mixed messages people are sending.
I mean, really isn't it the season of good will and cheer? Remember?? Good will, cheer? I don't see that when I'm standing behind the cash being yelled at by angry customers cause the return policy of the souless corporation I work for has no decency to extend it past its normal 14 day period.
This year. You should celebrate the pagan way. Get drunk. And point and laugh at all the heart attacks waiting to happen.
-offers you a spiked eggnog-
I'm lactose intolerant. And I don't drink.
But I shall point and laugh nonetheless with soy egg nog and candy canes in hand!
Actually it's Christmakkah or Hannamas. But NO I do not watch the OC and never will. The only way I would watch it, is in Hell.
Ho-ly crap.
I personally believe the intention of the holidays was a time of year where people are supposed to act kind to one another, in an attempt to save the human race from tearing eachother apart.
-Pi-
Wow - people are all, like, uppity and shit...
I'll be honest, I'm all about the "Holidays" over "Christmas" and everything else.
I mean, there are -other- "holidays" around this time, other than X-mas. And to be honest, the "holiday season" is really more for the kids, and all the children should be included. Kwanzaa, Ede (sp?), Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas... whatever.
It's the shopping season: you're absolutely right, but you can't crap on the "holiday spirit" even if it is plastic fantastic.
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