How do you feel about the 2019-2020 holiday season?

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Hi. I am just a bit curious about this. I looked up exactly is meant by the "holiday season". It generally means the period between Thanksgiving and New Year, and includes such festivals as Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hannukah. This is probably why and how the phrase "Happy Holidays" came about, which isn't used, as far as I know, until the winter holiday season rolls around. I am curious about the etymology of this phrase. Why the term "holiday season" and phrase "Happy Holidays" are generally reserved for the winter holiday season and not for any other part of the year if I am not mistaken is beyond me and is a topic for another thread. I'd also like to know how the phrase "Season's Greetings" came about and why that phrase is generally reserved for the winter holiday season also in the same thread.

I don't really care about holidays to be honest. I am at the age in which they are not really important to me. I generally treat holidays like I do any other days of the year.

I haven't been focusing on any of the holidays this season too much. I have acting like they don't exist. I have been very busy. I have a lot of work to do and business to take care of.

Right now I am home alone. My mother has been away from me for several weeks- she has been at both a local hospital and nearby rehab facility. My younger brother I staying with my older sister and her son. When Thanksgiving came around, I was thankful she got the much needed surgery she received and is away getting the other medical help and attention she needs.

I was thankful my sister called 911 the day she came to pick my brother up, against my mother's wishes, so the police paramedics could take her to the hospital. If my sister didn't intervene my mother could have died.

I spent Thanksgiving alone, which was a first, and I didn't make a big to-do about celebrating it. I went about my business as usual.

I am hoping I get to see my mother Christmas day. On top of focusing on getting my house in order, which is a lot of work, I have been taking care of personal expenses and getting myself together, I have been helping my mother out. As of the time of the posting of this she is still in the rehab center. She may not even be in her room Christmas Day.

I think what I am doing is far more important then celebrating any holidays and/or festivals right now. I don't even celebrate Hannukah or Kwanzaa. I need to have my house thoroughly decluttered for a number of reasons. I have other things to deal with.

If I end up spending Christmas alone this year, like I did Thanksgiving, it would be a first. That would be fine with me.

Like I said I am not even really thinking about the holidays. I forget about them- I don't really think about them until I see reminders about them when I am out in public but I generally dismiss them.

I already gave my mother a belated birthday gift which doubled as an early Christmas gift.

How do you feel about this holiday season? Are winter holidays important to you?

I am curious. Please help. Thank you.

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Type: Question • Score: 3 • Views: 2,140 • Replies: 30

@JGoldman10,

Yeah, I get it. There was always a lot of social pressure to get with the program and play along. Some people get into that kind of thing. Some people don't. I happen to not. I mean, it was really a social gathering of relatives. And that was okay, but after a while it lost its magic and became more of an obligation than a festivity.

3 Replies

@Glennn,

I just explained my personal situation. I am probably going to spend Christmas alone for the reasons I listed above. Sometimes there are more important things in life than celebrating holidays.

I need a new PC.

I need to focus on getting my own personal health together and being organized, among other things.

What's the point of holiday hype anyway? I don't feed into the hype. I think it's ridiculous. They came out with Black Friday and Cyber Monday because they want people to spend their money - that's nothing but capitalism at work.

They want to get people all hyped up for Christmas, and when it finally gets here, then what? The novelty of the holiday wears off.

0 Replies

@JGoldman10,

Because of my job and my own habits, I try to be aware of most holidays on the calendar, and mark the occasions. I even have certain pins to wear on certain holidays. I do enjoy the general good feelings during this time of year, plus it isn't as busy and chaotic as the summer months. I do wish it snowed more often in my area, despite the driving concerns.

I recently spend Christmas Eve with my family, having dinner and giving gifts early. I am also part of a Secret Santa exchange with my coworkers; we will exchange gifts later in the week. For Christmas, I may spend it going to the movies or read the new books I received.

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@JGoldman10,

I really don't find the "holiday season" particularly meaningful or important. I enjoyed X-mas as a child. I enjoyed Halloween as a child. I enjoyed birthdays as a child. I'm no longer a child.

One thing you've got to bear in mind, JGoldman, is that the "holiday season" really means a lot to retailers and pushing consumption is the big reason for all the hype. Twenty per cent of retail sales occur during this time, and the percentage is much higher for jewelry stores, toy stores, and, of course, X-mas tree sellers.

As with "Happy Holidays", "Season's Greetings" was coined as a way to include Jews and other non-Christians in the mass orgy of consumption.

1 Reply

@hightor,

I don't do Halloween because I am a Christian. Before I got Saved I celebrated it. I used to enjoy Christmas as a kid.

Like I said, holidays are not that important. My mother would be upset if I didn't get her anything for her birthday, or Valentine's Day, or Mother's Day or Christmas. These holidays are important to her.

1 Reply

@Rebelofnj,

Merry Christmas Rebel. I am at the age that if I don't get birthday and/or Christmas gifts it's not a big deal. My next-door neighbor has given me Christmas and birthday gifts on occasion.

My mother is really enjoying the belated birthday/early Christmas present I got her when I went to visit her at the rehab facility. I got her special edition news magazine about the women of the Bible.She told me she has been using it as an evangelistic tool and people have gotten Saved.

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

I don't mind not receiving gifts, but I do make an effort to give gifts and appreciation to my loved ones, as well getting into the holiday spirit (my job is partially responsible for that last one).

My nieces and nephews have gotten trains and Frozen toys, so they're happy. We all watched Christmas movies, and it was a good time. A close relative of mine got me a hardcover copy of Wuthering Heights, which has a beautiful cover.

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@JGoldman10,

My mother would be disgusted if I sent her a card on Valentine's Day and rightly so.

2 Replies

@izzythepush,

Different country different customs.

In the US flowers/candy/cards are given to one’s mothers, daughters as well as those you have a romantic relationship with.

As a little girl my father always gave heart shaped boxes of candy to my mother and all 3 of his daughters, and his mother, who lived next door.

My husband and his daughter always exchange cards on that day.

1 Reply

@chai2,

Valentine's Day is only for those you have, or wish to have, a romantic attachment with.

And they're usually sent anonymously.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

As I said., different countries, different customs.

Whether you agree with the differing practices and customs or not, there it is.

Card racks at VD time are filled with cards to family members and friends in the US.
Really nothing else to say about that. That’s the reality.

1 Reply

@chai2,

VD is the usual abbreviation of Venereal Disease.

Really nothing else to say about that. That’s the reality.

0 Replies

@izzythepush,

Why?

1 Reply

@Rebelofnj,

If I get gifts, fine, if not, that's fine also. I don't get worked up about getting gifts or not.

0 Replies

@Glennn,

I recall visiting my grandmother and great uncle in an apartment in NYC for Christmas a number of times when I was younger. That was kind of like a family tradition. I haven't been in NYC in a long time. Since they passed my family doesn't get together like that during the holiday season anymore.

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@Glennn,

I don't know specifically what party or parties are responsible for social pressure, but there is some form of social pressure they try to instill and impose on people. As I said they want people to spend their money.

I remember the tech companies were trying to sway people to keep up with current tech not that long ago.

They wanted people to assimilate so to speak and keep with it. Now since certain tech is now considered obsolete people don't really seem to have much choice about it.

Public payphones are a rarity now. You have to own a mobile phone.

I remember not that long ago Microsoft kept pressuring people to keep up with Windows upgrades, which got on my nerves.

I remember not that long ago computer manufacturers wanted the public to keep up with current computer models, which to me didn't make much sense, because they would come out with one model one year, and not long after they would come out with a newer model to render the previous model obsolete.

I think that is ridiculous but again that is capitalism and consumerism at work.

1 Reply

@Rebelofnj,

I have things to do. I have things I have to deal with in my personal life. I make sacrifices to appease my mother. My mother understands if I don't do certain holiday-related things.

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@JGoldman10,

I thought I'd already answered that. Valentine's Day is for lovers, not parents, kids or grandparents.

We don't think that Valentines Day should be used to promote incest, like child brides, it's an American tradition we want no part of.

2 Replies

@JGoldman10,

Quote:

I remember the tech companies were trying to sway people to keep up with current tech not that long ago.

It has been like that for years, ever since the idea of"Keeping Up With The Jones" in the 1920s, and even before that. It is like that with basically every industry, not just the tech industry.

It is very prevalent in the video game industry. New PC games may require new hardware to play them, like a graphics card or a new OS. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo usually release a new console every so-and-so years.

Quote:

Public payphones are a rarity now. You have to own a mobile phone.

Probably because cell phones are now very ubiquitous in society and that they are very easy and cheap to get.

1 Reply

How do you feel about the 2019-2020 holiday season?

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