[Warning: Rant with no Perl content]
Just got back from a shopping trip where the main aim
was to buy birthday presents for a couple of friends. This
has been rendered almost impossible by the arrival of the
so-called "festive season". Everywhere shops stocks of
ordinary everyday things has been decimated as they replace
it with overpriced tat decorated with holly and tinsel.
Why does it have to start so early? It gets earlier each
year. I'm sure I remember times when I was younger and
people didn't think about xmas until the middle of
December. But now, the shops get the xmas stock in that
little bit earlier each year in an attempt to get the
advantage over their competitors. At this rate it won't be
too many years until we see xmas stuff in the shops as soon
as we get back from our summer holidays[1].
Thinking about it, why bother with xmas at all. Does
anyone still enjoy it? All of it? Let's examine the
reasons why people claim to like xmas.
- Celebrating the birth of the little baby Jesus
Well that's complete nonsense for a start. Of course
in my opinion there's no reason on Earth to celebrate the
date of an obscure Middle-Eastern prophet, but even it you
do still believe in Giant Sky Pixies, there's no evidence
that the date we currently use has any relationship with
the actual date. The early xtians simply stole an existing
pagan festival in order to make their new myths more
acceptable.
- It's nice to give an receive gifts
Well of course it is, But you you really need to be
told when to do it? And you you really need to do so much
of it art this one time of the year? We seem to be caught
in a spiral of spending with no way out. Why not buy
people little presents throughout the year - whenever you
think of them. Instead of this obscene feeding frenzy of
present-giving over the last few days of the year.
- It's good to spend time with your family
Does anyone really believe this? If it was so nice
to spend time with the family, then we'd do it more often.
Getting three or four generations of a family together for
three days once a year is bound to lead to friction. And
it always does. Not to mention the chaos it causes on the
roads and the railways. Why not visit your family more
often, but for shorter lengths of time?
So it's pointless. A complete waste of time, effort and
money,. All for a few days that no-one really enjoys. Sure,
let the xtians have their day of baby-worship, but for the
rest of us, do really need to get so involved in it
all?
[1] Right opposite where I'm currently working,
there's a shop called "The Christmas Shop" that already
sells xmas stuff all year round. That really
cheers me up each morning!
careful what you wish for...
hfb on 2001-11-24T16:37:56
They do have 'Christmas in July' sales in the states and these days the tinsel covered tat and musak comes out before Halloween. This year, the newsmedia are pushing holiday shopping like never before as if our economy depends on spending gobs of money on your loved ones.
Try not to get too worked up over the holiday as the religion thing is a bit too pervasive to even hope that the human race will wise up to the biggest scam of all time. No big whoop. Take the opportunity to enjoy a paid holiday and maybe even go see the family :) Shop on-line...I don't give adults christmas presents but I've given my nieces and nephews Amazon gift certificates for the last 5 years since they can buy what they want and I never have to leave the house to do it :)
Re:careful what you wish for...
davorg on 2001-11-25T10:13:07
hfb said:
Take the opportunity to enjoy a
paid holiday
Except, being freelance, I only get paid for
the days I'm actually working. No paid holidays
for me.
oh...and 2 books you might enjoy...
hfb on 2001-11-24T16:44:16
The Physics of Christmas which is a really fun read that explores a little bit of the advent of the 'retail' christmas season.
The Battle for Christmas is a entertaining read on how Christmas has been a burr on the ass of America, and probably every other culture, for centuries.
Christmas, on the other side of the pond
ziggy on 2001-11-24T18:14:37
This year, the tinsel selling season started early. Here on this side of the pond, the christmas trees and decorations started going on sale after Labor Day (1st week in September).
In the last few years, retailers have tended to break down the Halloween decorations pretty quickly on November 1st in order to start hanging Christmas decorations. Pretty soon, it'll start *during* the Summer holidays. :-S
Besides, if all of the nativity scenes are getting annoying, there's always festivus.
Our own decorations...
chaoticset on 2001-11-24T20:28:18
...aren't that pretty, I admit, but the ones the rest of nature puts out are awfully nice where I am this time of year.
I'm a sucker for first snow. :)
Re:Our own decorations...
koschei on 2001-11-25T02:14:48
Whereas I'm in Australia. Snow? At Christmas? That would be bizarre =)
Dude
pudge on 2001-11-25T14:02:12
As for me, I do celebrate the birth of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Sure, that might not be his birthday. So? I don't find birthdays themselves to be meaningful anyway. I don't find New Year's or birthdays or any particular day to be meaningful in and of themselves; they are just reminders of important events. I can't get excited about particular days, but I can get excited about what those days represent.
And yes, it is nice to spend time with family and friends
... depending on the family and friends. This is not exclusive to Christmas, though.
I won't defend the commercialism of Christmas. I don't even really believe much in gift-giving to celebrate Christmas. What I do believe in is celebrating the birthday of a good friend of mine.
I also have always thought that, while your derision of my beliefs certainly isn't appreciated, that non-Christians have no logical reason to celebrate Christmas. So I basically agree with you on everything except for the validity of God and Christ themselves.
:-)
OTOH
... you need to lighten up. Ignore what you don't care for.
Re:Dude
Purdy on 2001-11-26T00:09:58
Amen. I was kind of shocked to see such a journal entry, but everyone has the right to post whatever they want.
Jason
Re:Dude
pudge on 2001-11-26T00:16:29
Heh, you weren't around for the Post-Sept-11-use-Perl-Journal Battles. :-)
earlier every year
jmm on 2001-11-26T14:37:21
I find it amusing to hear the complaint that stores are starting the Christmas ads earlier every year, with a time in
November being quoted as an example.
I can remember 30 years ago hearing the same complaint about carols being played on the muzak in October. But I was amused then because, 10 years earlier, my mother had been complaining about Chrismas decorations in a store in September.
Christmas festivities have been starting "earlier" for at least 50 years. But, they still start with sporadic items in September and gradually increase to totally overwhelming every aspect of the environment by late November.
It is just that each year a different group of people notice the pre-overwhelming stages earlier than they had other years and intuit the "new immoral capitalistic creep".
Re:earlier every year
chaoticset on 2001-11-27T01:11:24
That phenomenon is not limited to Christmas decorations; everybody, no matter when they were born, seems to have a tendency to talk about how "they don't make 'em like they used to" or "kids nowadays".
"...I keep hearing about how you've changed. I think, 'Weather changes...and we just keep making the same dumb mistakes.'"
Re:earlier every year
pudge on 2001-11-27T01:12:53
Yeah, I didn't touch on that part of the topic (which was indeed the actual topic), but this is the *latest* I can recall "Christmas season" beginning.
Re:earlier every year
pdcawley on 2001-11-29T13:35:53
September 11th probably had a big, chastening effect. Bit hard to concentrate on consumerism when you're mourning lost friends and watching a (?:pointless)? war on the telly.
