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

I've got all my Christmas shopping done, nyah nyah nyah

I never do any, nyah nyah nyah nyahnioyohoo!

I got you beat; I didn't do any christmas shopping. LOL

That says nothing ci. There's 19 shopping days left.

I never do any at anytime.

I got Santa locked in my garage - he'll only make it to the New Year by eating the reindeer. That's win-win to me.

You'll do fine for this one Cic-man. Would 2 litres of sake (the rice-wine) make an appropriate present?

It's getting more and more crowded at the malls. Even Mondays are pretty busy, so I would recomend getting any shopping you have left done ASAP.

The few gifts I do buy for people are all done. Every year the only thing I give out are gift cards to book stores. Expand the mind a bit instead of giving a toy that will be broken by the new year.

On those very rare occasions that I actually do some holiday shopping, it's never before the afternoon of the 24th. What's the hurry?

Only if you come and share it.

That's okay if the store has some books which will actually expand the mind.

Isn't cash preferable? That allows the recipients a free choice rather than them being directed by your goodself which is surely more in the spirit of goodwill and festive cheer. It is also more carbon efficient and it doesn't assume that the recipients are destructive personality types.

The only thing I like about Xmas is its commercialism.

When I was 8, we all woke up on Christmas morning to find that my baby brother had died in his crib. That put a pall over the holiday, of course. Still, it was nice having the extended family together after that, before we all grew apart for various reasons -- divorces, bigotry, sexual abuse in the generations above me, and (partly as a result) lives lived apart among my generation. There were only a couple of tensely together Christmases left when my grandfather died late on Christmas Eve when I was 19. As the years in between went by and the collective familial depression kicked in, the materialism and pressure of Christmas took over during the holidays, and went from a day focused around a stocking full of goofy little things and morning piroshkis dipped in tomato-lemon-dill soup (a tradition that my Polish grandmother brought into the family, and that my wife and I keep up every third year or so) to a big pile of crap from the mall that nobody really wants or needs and a desperate silence heavy with what should have been said -- which there's an element of in every family, I think, but there were no new children to build the Christmas illusion for after my little brother died, so the holiday was a time of traditional fester. Welcome to the Sam Shepard Christmas Special...

I don't begrudge anyone there Christmas spirit, if they have it. Good on you.

But all you bastards cutting each other off to hunt for the last parking spot at the mall so that junior can upgrade his I-Pod at the anointed hour can bite my frozen white ass, especially if your little battle stands between me and a six-pack and a sandwich, as it did the other day. It was cold, I'd been shoveling snow all day, and I just wanted a beer and a sandwich in a sane world. Is that to much to ask?

Fah bucking bumhug.

That's the spirit!

I did try cash a couple of times but it seemed even less thoughtful than a gift card. Cash is to easy to spend and it seemed that it just got used up for gas or a sandwich and not to get something they wanted instead of something they needed. To me a gift should be something that the person wants to get for themselves but always ends up putting aside because of the daily expenses of living.

I usually get gift cards to the big book stores like borders and such. They have millions of books to read but they also have art supplies and CD's and movies and journals and the like. That way if they are not big into books they can get some music or a movie. I have never had anyone complain, I hope that someone would let me know if they didn't have a use for the card.

I understand why Finn has such an affinity for Christmas. It's the best time of the year for arrogant blowhards. All those people that can't stand to even be near him and try to avoid him all year actually go out of their way to tolerate his annoying personage during this magical time of year. We have one like him in my family, and she always seems the most happy during this time of year. Sometimes, I even nod my head and smile at her while she's boring me with her know-it-all blather and bragging.

Ooh, all this Christmas spirit has warmed my heart to the point where my cockles are actually starting to melt. Thank you, Finn, for showing us all the true spirit of the season. Merry Christmas.

please, what are doing on this thread anyway, you clearly love christmas? did you not read the title, "for those of us who hate this whole season".

yeah, I hate christmas, because there is too much pretending involved. pretending, like when you open up a present that you really hate but you have to put on a smile and say "thanks, its exactly what I wanted, how did you know!?"
Christmas is cruel for people like me, because we go through the whole year acting how we want, and then we have to be happy for a week or so, or people begin to show their dislike for us, which in some weird way I could applaud them for.

Considering you were in the hospital on Christmas Eve it looks like you missed the boat completely. But if you get out of the hospital on your birthday,
you're just in time for "Black Friday".

I love Christmas. Everything is closed. I don't have to do a ******* thing but see the handful of people I can actually stomach and I don't even have to do that, I choose to. I don't have to run any errands because nothing's open. I don't work and I don't take any calls unless I want to . Nothing and no one that's a pain the ass... and that's practically everything and everyone.... can intrude on my life on this day. I love Christmas. I eat myself into a coma, then lie around like a damn slug. What in God's name is not to like?

As an added bonus I can take immense pleasure in the fact that you bah humbug assholes are miserable on such a great day. Christmas is a true blessing.

That's what you got from my post? That I clearly love Christmas? Ha! That's good stuff.

That's what I like about it too. The sheer festering slobbing on a full belly. Two whole weeks of it. Loverly.

How do you learn to hibernate?