A Christmas survival thread for those of us who hate this whole season.

**** it. For 364 days of the year we all act like rats in a lab test and **** each other over for something. Anything. More pay. A bigger desk. A bigger car. A bigger house. A bigger credit card debt. So, for one ******* day of the year, its all "Peace and love and baby Jesus and too much figgy pudding" and then the day after we move our bowels and go back to the rat experiment.

I, for one, won't take it anymore. I am tired and cranky and I just don't plain like lies.

This is something that is really bugging me this year...

The economy just went to crap because we Americans have been spending more than we can afford... yet the number of dollars spent on Christmas is still the primary indicator of how well the economy is doing (with more money spent somehow being good news).

Go figure.

Yeah, I'm another one who could care less about Christmas (but then, I also don't bother much with birthdays). I love giving gifts and watching people opening them, but that's about it.

I cannot stand listening to Christmas carols, cannot stand to watch even one of the countless performances of "Miracle on 34th Street", "A Christmas Carol" or "Grinch", and cannot stand the excessive religious hype this time of year.

To me, Christmas is for kids, especially if they still believe in Santa and aren't greedy little brats. I do like to see their awe and excitement when they open their presents.

What Mame said.

It seems to me, for both adults and children (but especially children), the thrill of anticipation, the waiting for that special present is gone.

Now, one can just whip out a credit card and buy on a whim. I don't have a problem with using credit cards, as I use them responsibly, so that's not the issue.

It's that for kids, unless they're really small, they know an item can be bought at any time, and be given to them. No one has to lie in bed at night all excited about waiting "just 5 more days until Christmas" to see what delights are in store.

Als0 (and this might be my old age showing, I am 50 you know), all the "techy" gifts, ipods, video games, iphones etc. just don't seem very holiday-ish. I think part of it is that if you get/give a tech gift, the user immediately starts fooling with it, thus cutting themselves off from everyone else.

When I give someone a gift, I try to make it one that they would like, but wouldn't think of going out and getting themselves.

chai, Good insight into how today's christmas has changed from the time we were children. No resemblance at all. Tinker toys vs ipods and video games.

I hate it too. I'm going to go myself one of these and cheer myself up.

Buck Ofama.

Because of the all pervasiveness of Christmas in the U.S. (it is a legal national holiday), it serves the purpose of a sort of social bonding for those Christians that live in urban centers that have many non-Christians, I believe.

It also is a day when non-Christians can go to the movies and see fewer patrons.

There are two sides to every fence.

how far up your personal anus did you say that you can stick one of those gun barrels Ceej?

For a farmer, you sure are a big chicken (with lips).

I am culturally Christian and I still hate the holiday. I don't see that Christmas has much of a social bonding effect.

Christmas worship services are as insular ever-- Christians sort themselves by race, income and ethnic group, and many Christians will spend the time complaining about each other.

Even among religious Christians (and I speak from personal experience), good will toward men is a myth.

I can remember being thrilled to receive this.

It may not be "social bonding" to you, but it does help poor people at soup kitchens and food banks where huge donations helps the country's needy during the holidays. Also, it's a time when many families get-gather to celebrate the holidays for the few times where family members live some distance from each other.

Being sorry for someone for not celebrating Christmas is like being sorry for me because I don't celebrate Ramadan.

It's a personal choice.

Do I think that people who are not Christian can celebrate Christmas? Sure. But do I think that they should? (because I say so) No.

If you don't want to subscribe to it, don't. Plain as that.

I personally have never been into the sensationalism of it all and don't intend for my daughter to be that way either. It's always been a time for family and for spending time listening to Christmas music by the fireplace. It does include gifts, but I have always been very very particular about what I get people. I'd rather get them something for $20 that is very personal and meaningful instead of something for $300 because it was expensive and "in".

Well, that's ironic because the numbers just came in and we ar UP 2% (or 3%, I can't remember) from last year and economists have now officially (as if we didn't already know) declared we are in a recession.
Go figure that!

What a country we live in!!!

People should be getting off their asses and doing it year round. That is one thing I hate about holiday's (all of em). We think we have to wait for them to do something nice.

I'm up for that ci. In the old days, when pubs were pubs, Christmas was just like every other night except we were allowed to stay out later. Now we have demanded the right to stay out as long as we want when we want Christmas is one of the few nights which gets it nearly back.

But don't forget that "something nice" needs to be rationed so that it can stay nice. It's usually sinful you see. Sinning should be rationed I think. It's what gives it its piquancy. Only experts can do that. Once amateurs start on it nothing is nice anymore.

Bella--I'll have the $300 one. That would show your feelings for me better than a $20 widget in my opinion which you must hold in high easteem in order to wish to relate to me so personally and meaningfully. A cheque say or a pink envelope with holly edgings containing 15 twenties.

I really and truly don't think kids are at all different today than they were when I was younger. I've been sending gifts to nieces and nephews for the last 30 years and there is only one kid who ever bothered to send me a thank you note for their gifts.

Half the time I didn't even know if the gift had been recieved and usually then it was only if I asked.

So if kids seem ungrateful today it's really only because their parents were ungrateful 30 years ago.

Also, I don't think it matters whether it's an iPod now or a Spirograph 50 years ago -- when a kid gets something new they will typically hunker down in a corner somewhere for a while to get acquainted with it.

Christmas is a pretty small deal around our house. There are no expectations of glorious piles of loot and there are no demands on our time.

Christmas is what you chose to make or not make of it.

boom, We "made" kids different today. As kids, we were happy with games that didn't require a small fortune to buy; kick the can, hide-n-seek, marbles, baseball, basketball, stick ball, bike riding, fishing, marble bazaar, dancing, and listening to radio such as the black shadow, lone ranger, superman, and groucho.

This is one of the most intelligent things said here so far. Thanks, Bella.