One Atheist's Holiday Season

One of my ex brothers in law makes it a spending frenzy. "How much have you spent on gifts?" he invariably asks. I reply and he says, "Hah! I've spent more than twice that." Mmm mmm mmm. Gifts are such a small part of the true season. A person could give me a Christmas card or just a handshake and that would be enough to make me happy.

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shoes, You really don't want to get into the topic of "wierd family." LOL It'll open a whole can of worms, and generate into snakes.

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edgar, One of the things I treasure most is the annual christmas card I receive from my friend who lives in Texas. We have known each other since the late fifties when we were both stationed in Morocco with the US Air Force, and we've been exchanging christmas cards every year since.

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Weird family? Don't get me started on weird family. I've got a boatload.

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We, my wife and I, spent an hour or more walking through the Garden Ridge Pottery store today. I found a neat wall shelf that looked like it was held up by a rose branch for one of my friends. We ended up with fancy cake cutters, serving sets, beautiful candle holders - I forget what else. All in all, a pleasant shopping experience for the time of year. Then we went to The Tractor Store, which sells lots of farm equipment and tools, but also has enough to attract a non farmer such as myself. My wife bought me a wagon to pull around the yard when I do my projects. About $97. That's all I asked for this year.
Do any of you out there know what Santa's got for you?

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I/we ordered a Sony 30 inch XBR900 LCD tv for our bedroom to replace the 17 inch we now have, but the company hasn't shipped in almost three weeks (although their ad says they ship in 2-3 work days), I canceled the order, and now looking for another supplier. My wife and I picked the Sony from the floor sample we saw at the Good Guys last month. The picture was sharp, and the design looks very contemporary - like it's floating in glass.

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Sounds like a great one, CI.

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Here's a link with a photo of the Sony KLV30XBR900. http://store.yahoo.com/pricesrite/klv30xbr90.html

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Wo - I would almost trade my wagon to have one of those.

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I love thrift stores and consignment shops along with funky little antique stores. Luckily, many of my friends also like unusual things, so I can have fun with my shopping instead of considering it a chore.

This year, I have used eBay quite a bit. I found a nice pair of Tony Lamas boots for Dys, who wears a hard to find size 9.5B, vary narrow for mens sizes. They are in good condition and only cost $50.00. I also found things for my mother-in-law, both sons and my niece.

By going to consignment shops, thrift stores and online to eBay, it is much easier to find something really special and personal and have fun doing it.

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I imagine the crowds are more manageable that way, too, Diane.

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truth
Here's a confession. My wife and I do not participate in the Xmas frenzy. We only give gifts to small children. We have stopped sending cards. And we put up minimal decorations, just for the ambience. The result is that during the Xmas season we suffer no stress at all, and we feel no guilt or shame at all. We see most people, like Edgar's brother-in-law, as falling into the trap of a commercial system designed to drain his bank account and flood his body with corticol. I think we talked about the benefits of grinchism last year. Twisted Evil

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Hi edgar, Finally decided on the Panasonic TC32LH1, LCD, HDTV, that has 1280/720 pixels, 500:1 contrast ratio, and brightness of 450. The supplier said it'll be shipped within 24 hours, but we don't expect delivery for about ten days, so it'll be after christmas. ITMT, we'll continue to watch our Samsung 17 inch. Wink

I've sent six 'christmas greetings' so far; one to Texas, one to Egypt, one to Malaysia, one to Singapore, one to Ogden, and the last one to our old neighbor in Naperville, IL.

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cavfancier wrote:

Edgar, I have always maintained that holidays are about family, and generosity, rather than some spooky religion. Being born Jewish, and married to a Catholic, I get the best of all holidays, and we do them secular-style. However, with my family, the Jewish holidays have always seemed to end up being a competition between the siblings who host them. Chanukah is coming up (although I prefer the spelling 'Chewbacca'), and since last year, giving presents has been outlawed, as one aunt thought the competition to give the best, most finely wrapped presents was getting out of hand. It may have been a practical choice, but personally I find this sad and silly in it's entirety, and quite frankly, Mrs. cav and I are not looking forward to the occasion. A holiday without joy is no holiday at all.

Cav
If you weren't so far away I'd like to come sit in for you! Laughing

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I rarely spend over $15 or $20 for a Christmas gift, except when buying for my wife, and even then I don't generally spend that much. I think gifts are an important way of connecting with the ones close to you, but the cost is not important. If it is important to any of these people - tough. On the other hand, I want CI's new television. Woo woo.

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truth
I DO, however, give gifts, books, CDs, and foodstuff to friends when they least expect it, and when the particular gift fits the particular person's likes and needs. But to give them during the season when they are expected is just to oppressive and meaningless for me.

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Well, jl, I too give either on impulse or when I see a needy person all through the year. But, Christmas is in my atheistic soul and I dearly love to follow the tradition (which of course evolves much more rapidly than we realize. For instance, the popular image of Santa in the red suit is a creation of Coca Cola advertising, and Rudolph the red nosed reindeer has become as much a part as the regular eight reindeer of former tradition).

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truth
I recall reading about a Japanese department store wanting to take up the Western Christian theme of Xmas and Santa Claus. But it turned out that their research was very faulty. In the front window of the store they displayed Santa Claus on the cross. Believe it or not.

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I believe it, based on similar mistakes made by some Mexicans I observed posting signs for a new product called Masonite. For "resists mildew" they put "resists mild dew" and "no knot holes" = "no nut holes." There were more I no longer remember. They said it had to be correct because they looked up every word in the dictionary before having the signs made.

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well then I suppose next year they can have jesus being resurrected thru the chimney...

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One Atheist's Holiday Season

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