Christmas sucks

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[rant]

If anyone is guilty of secularizing and destroying Christmas its the Christians themselves. Remember how they told people in the 50s that you were a godless communist if you didnt participate in the capitalist system. Remember how it was 'American' to spend, spend, spend? Well, they got their wish and taking down any reference to one religion so more people would shop is only a natural way for businesses to earn more money.

And I'm not saying that I support what Christmas is about. Today, I was stuck in the mall trying to buy some things for my family and I dont think I've ever been in a more depressing scene in my life. Kids were tugging and crying at their parents to buy this, people were rubbing elbows and clawing each other and trying to get the latest fads. Most of the products were throwaways that people wouldnt even use for more then 5 minutes. I mean, whats the point? If you really care about someone, then you dont need to buy them a gift. There's nothing special in the way of showing your affection for them when you've bought something thats been manufactured 1000s of times, and bought by 1000s more.

[/rant]

agreed

Same here. All holidays are being waay too heavily commercialized. :/

The spirit of giving has become the spirit of taking.

Volunteer for the organizations that help those in need.
I always donate non-perishable food items.

Exactly Comkeen, very well said.

Exactly. And people wonder why depression hits so often and hard during the holiday season... If you ask me, the people who are happiest are usually the ones who are poorer and just enjoy spending time with their family as opposed to the middle and upper-middle class Americans (and probably anyone else, though I cannot speak for people in other parts of the world) who get caught up in gift giving and recieving.

This may be overstated, but I think a simple card or small gift is better than an extravagant one. A small gift or card lets the reciever know that you have been thinking about them. I also agree with what Mithrandir said.

If you're unhappy with Christmas as it is, try and make it like you want to be.

To defend it - any holiday which stresses gift-giving and eating is bound to get commercialised, since that's what commerce is. To blame the media and corporations etc is one thing, to say that the whole idea of Christmas sucks is a bit defeatist. If Christmas "sucks", then, the rest of the year must be a bit of a downer as well. For me Christmas is fun because I get to . And I enjoy it more now I have enough money to buy proper presents for people - I really enjoy going to someone's house for the weekend and thinking up something nice within my budget to buy them for it. I went to my "god-aunt"'s house last weekend and came away with loads of ideas for her present even though I won't see her again until the New Year. That's what Christmas is about for me, I couldn't really care less what I get, I can just about afford most things I want. There is one thing I do want badly, but if it ever comes it's never going to be here in time for the 25th - and that's why Christmas isn't going to be so good this year. But I'm off to Poland for two weeks afterwards, which should be a nice break even if nothing else.

Family problems seem worst at Christmas since you are trapped with friends and family without any other distractions. Last year I spent nearly a week with my ex-boyfriend and ended up wanting to kill him, or at least for him to go far, far, far away and never to see him again as long as I live. It wasn't Christmas that necessarily did it, but it was the fact of being stuck in the house over New Year with nothing much to do. We were on the rocks already after a disasterous "dirty weekend" a month or so beforehand, but New Year killed it off, though it ended amicably enough.

Christmas shopping is more like a yearly errand than an act of kindness. My parents and relatives even send each other lists of things that my cousins and I want. Like WTF? That doesn't show that you were 'thinking' about them. It shows that you weren't too lazy to get the shopping done, that you weren't misinformed, etc. Thats about it.

So why still celebrate the holidays if its dwindled down to something like this? Because its tradition, I guess

Crack - you're right, how old are they though? When I was young Christmas and birthdays were for that special thing that you couldn't really afford yourself but were treated to, therefore you made sure that you let your parents know well in advance. I suppose it's a bit rich if people are swapping lists, but remember if someone doesn't see someone else day-in, day-out they may not know exactly what they would like.

Now it's a case of seeing something I think people might appreciate above and beyond the normal day-to-day things (I used to get everyone pens when I was younger and wondered why people got annoyed, until someone pointed out that though they were useful, they could always go and buy themselves another one and would have appreciated something with a little bit more effort put into it). I plan to get my god-aunt a toy mouse and dress him up like Reepicheep in the Narnia books - because she is quite obsessed with him and is going to make a Dawn Treader tapestry.

I normally get my dad at least something edible or drinkable for Christmas day, but this year we have two christmases to get through (one for family with my sister, one without her as she is going up to her boyfriend's for Christmas day proper). So I've bought him a game that he will enjoy (it's one of the Sudoku spin-offs, all four of us were sitting their scribbling away in front of the TV tonight!! !) and we can all get some kind of fun out of on the 25th and 26th. He also has his birthday on the 24th so I've got him his favourite stand-up-comic on DVD. It's easy to think of things for him now...I feel he might get another DVD next year and so on though.

I would just count our blessings that we are able to enjoy Christmas and move on from the bah-humbug...apparently we in the UK are the most generous of all Europe, though other countries spend more on decorations than we do. I may not cope so well as I did last year due to my depression, but at least my aunt's doll will keep me busy so I can get it to her for New Year.

I agree with this thread. And I think the fact that we have to be so charitable on specific occations goes to show how uncharitable we are otherwise; that we have to have these commercialized reminders "oh, yeah, being nice, yeah... yeah...".

True... it's become too commercialised.

Growing up, our family didn't have a lot of money so our parents would give us $20 and we'd buy each other little things for each other from $2 shops and the like, just to show that we care for each other.

We've never had to spend a fortune to make another person happy... thanks to those experiences, I am now very much anti-materialist...

That's freedom for ya.

i agree explain to the poor asian child getting paid 50 cents a day what his hard working labor is getting used for and while ur at it why not spit on him as well i supose spit would be more cleaner then the water he drinks any way. and the asian child would have more respect then any of us have for our things any wat thoghs who can afford christmas shouldent have it but the poor should have our gifts for exchange for there labour that they probuse for the world.

By and large I agree with you all. To quote the Ghost of Christmas Present in "A Muppet Christmas Carol": "It is the season of the spirit. The message, if we hear it, is 'make it last all year'!"

But I do give gifts around Christmas time, but not because "it's Christmas." To quote a friend of mine, "Christmas is a convenient excuse to give people what they want want without them feeling guilty about not having gotten you anything in return." Makes good sense to me.

Also, I don't just go out and get people anything. I try to find out what makes a person tick, where their deepest interest lies, and try to find something that fits in those categories. That way, the gift is exceedingly personal to them. I don't judge the value of the gift by it's price tag. If I can make them something and it costs me a few hours and 50 cents in materials, cool. If I have to scour the internet for days, so be it. Needless to say, folks usually only get a single gift from me, but it's always something that will be exceptionally meaningful to them. Because this is my practice, if I don't give someone a gift, they aren't offended. They just know I couldn't find anything that was worthy of them and are just as likely to take it as a compliment.

Doing it that way takes the superficial commercialism out of it I think.

It's hypocritical and contradictory. Follow Christianity, but also spend spend spend spend at Xmas.

You buy presents for people because it is physical evidence that you do love them, and whatever it is has sentimental value to you whenever you see/use it. It is also often the case that you get them something they want without having them tell you what they want; you would already know what they want because you've known them long enough. If it does not, then it is nothing more than cheap gifts meant to impress people without any kind of feeling behind it.

I'd agree that celebrating Christmas just isn't what it used to be, but I wouldn't celebrate it for religious reasons. It's still nice to see the decorations up and the fact that we are given a break away from school or work.