Holidays- Cant Stand Em.

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Ok, I know its still early august, but this is the time of year i start planning for the long slow decline into the Christmas season. I have a good sized family that does care for me, but i still, absolutely hate the Christmas season. I know many of you are not religious here, but i think that the overriding theme of CHRISTmas should be the birth of CHRIST, hence the name. It seems that the people who are jerks year round, become MEGA jerks right before Christmas. Store clerks are short tempered (cant blame them, i used to work at walmart), other customers are pushy, rude, and will take stuff right out of your shopping cart. People get trampled to death at black friday sales and nobody cares, they just keep stepping on the man, just so they can get their precious goods, even when the cops show up to clear the store, people start lashing out at them!

And then there are the family gatherings. I to be painfully honest, I would rather be at work, i work at a 24 hour convenience store, we are one person to a shift, and things get slow on Christmas eve and Christmas day.

I dont get how we talk about the loving Christmas spirit while killing each other over a freaking doll that pisses itself when you give it water!

Looking forward to Christmas also means looking forward to the long slow decrease in sunlight, the coming cold weather, the paranoia of the ancient furnace in the basement that smells kinda funny, the storms, not knowing if the buses will run tomorrow, needing six layers of clothing and so on. Here we are in august and the overnight lows tomorrow are to be in the mid 40's, not two weeks ago, we were talking heat indices of 95-100, now were talking frost in the colder valleys.

With the back to school season fast approaching (BTW, Thank GOD i am through with school) come high school football rallies, jocks showing off, and the littler kids bringing home all kinds of germs shared with their friends, above all else, i cannot stand being sick. Knock on wood, i have not been "vomiting" type sick since 2003, i havent touched ranch dressing or carrots since.

In these parts, we can have a frost in town as early as september 15th, snow as early as september 25th and as late as may 10th.

I think its safe to say that my self dxd seasonal affective disorder begins in august and runs through february.

I dislike holidays; mostly Christmas and birthdays, but most of the other ones too. My main issue, unlike yours, is I hate being treated like a child. My mother loves anything that involves gift giving and I generally dislike it. I don't enjoy being treated as if I cannot provide for myself.

I guess another stress in holidays is that they end up being social activities that seem completely illogical. It seems to me that if you are going to celebrate something, if it is something important, it would be a good idea to celebrate it all the year round rather than on one day of the year. Oddly enough, although I don't make public new years resolutions, new years day is the one that I consider useful in that I find it useful to set goals adn see how well I have handled past goals.

But the other ones... easter... Okay... it's the end of winter and I think we all can agree that that is a good thing, but the Christian version is a little odd. Guy gets nailed to a cross. Dies. Comes back to life and ascends to some heaven. I'm not quite sure I buy that. Veteran's Day. How many people actually realize it's about recognizing the people who fought in wars for good or ill? Labor Day... If you look at conservative politics these days, you'd think it should be labor just thanking their capitalist overlords that they have a job. And if they don't have a job, thanking their capitalist overlords that they haven't yet been deported. Then we have thanksgivings day. I recognize that there is plenty to be grateful for, but who am I supposed to thank? I don't believe in a god and frankly I think the capitalist overlords would more happily gut me and eat my liver than provide me with a nice tofurky dinner for the efforts of my labor. Birthdays would be nice it they could be limited to something like "Hey, we're glad you are around." rather than the overblown consumerism of gift giving.

Maybe the real problem is I just don't know what is expected of me on the holidays. It yanks me out of my daily routine which causes me stress and anxiety. People seem to expect things of me that I have no clue how to provide. I am told that I am supposed to be having fun but holidays are almost always the oposite of fun. Sure, it's fine for other people to enjoy the holidays if they like, but I wish I could be left in peace.

I get to experience the wonderment of holidays through my children. Still, I've never been one to get overly excited over a holiday. They always seemed hollow to me.

thechadmaster: Wow, do I ever agree!

This should be REQUIRED VIEWING for everyone: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA[/youtube]

Religious or not, you're right: Christmas is NOT (or shouldn't be) about greed.

Also, if you can find the SLIDERS episode "Season's Greedings" anywhere, take a look. It's what you described to the extreme.

I own that Sliders episode! It's a great commentary on today's society and it's propensity towards buying love.

What's wrong with going on holiday? Just choose somewhere you like.

If on the other hand you're saying that you don't like Christmas... well, that can be cancelled too, you know.

I'm not a Christian, but I enjoy how Christmas brings my family together and all that jazz. Also, presents!

But according to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, you are most likely to be murdered by your own family on Christmas. No idea how true that actually is, but it makes sense since I know for a fact that you're most likely to be attacked by someone you know and trust, not a stranger.

I love the holidays but some don't mean much to me anymore such as Easter and Valentine's Day. I don't even care for my birthday either and always want it cancelled every year. I don't need any new stuff. I don't really care for Christmas because I also have enough stuff and would rather get what I need and that would run out and I still put up a tree and all. I don't like to Christmas shop either so I retired from it but my husband still does it. When I have a kid that would change and who says I have to do it every Holiday? I can do it any time of the year like my mom always had when we were growing up. Early as February she start buying stuff for the next Christmas and hide it. But a one time I happened to be digging around in the attic and I would find toys and start playing with them so my mom had to find a new hiding spot. Then another time I saw her leaving the den and she had bags with her with stuff in it so she had to find a new hiding spot. Another time I found stuff in her closet when I happened to be digging and she was mad about that. I sure loved to snoop and I wasn't even trying to find anything. I was just curious to see what was around. One time I accidentally found my early birethday presents and they were two barbie outfits. She had them up in the cupboard and I happened to be digging up there and bam I grabbed this bag and two Barbie outfits fell out. She had them up high too and I just grabbed the bar stool and climbed on it and dug in there. So the last place was the trunk of my Dad's Honda where I never found them. We all knew they had them out in the garage but we never found them. Only my parents knew where they were hidden.

As a child I loved it all because that was the only time I get new toys because my mom always said no to everything and I loved getting new cards from Valetine's Plus I loved candy so Easter and Halloween were the only ones where I get a lot.
I always loved the 4th of July because of the fireworks my family shoot off. We'd always go to Montana and shoot them off there. Now I just stay here and watch them here. This year we didn't buy any because we were short in our account so we watched my sister in law and her kids light them off.

Another "Policy" of mine: I will not go to a retail store between november 15th and december 28th. I give gift cards that can be purchased at the local grocery store. Last year, i went out on black friday for ONE item at kmart, a digital camera for my sister. I arrived around 9am, i dont do doorbusters. I went to the electronics counter and tried to get the clerk;s attention to see if the displayed camera was still in stock, he directed me to the back of the purchase line. The person in line before me got the last one. I went to best buy, tried to find a salesperson to open the security case to buy a camera, i was directed to the checkout line, again by the time i got served, the last one had been sold. i went back to the display and found a cheaper one that was not locked up, got it, checked out, and was on my way. Last year i went to target once during the t'giving xmas period, but that was on a wednesday at 730 in the morning, and just for essentials (toiletries and whatnot). This year, if i make it to december, i am going to stay away from the mall area completely. Ever try riding a bicycle and negotiating traffic that time of year? sitting AT THE LIGHT for six light cycles because people keep turning in front of you? forget it, people are animals.

I DO NOT believe in evolution but, December gives me PROOF POSITIVE that DE-EVOLUTION is happening. Back in 08 i was a cashier at walmart at christmas, its a miracle from the Hand of God Himself that i never jumped over the counter and ripped someones esophagus out through their butt-pipe.

I despise Christmas season. I have to deal with a lot of family members who don't like me and I always am sick during Christmas Day (since 2006!) I don't like receiving gifts and doing all the ridiculous shopping in the malls and crap. The only holiday I can stand is St. Patricks Day, and that's just because it's my birthday and nobody celebrates it.

BTW, I can feel my SAD coming around too, unfortunately. I know it's coming but there's nothing I can do... Bah.

I love Guy Fawkes' Day. Fireworks and sparklers and the onset of Winter. I love Winter - I love wearing my long coat, wearing my scarf and gloves, wearing jumpers and feeling the refreshing cold air on my face. I love drinking warm drinks when it's cold outside. I love looking out of my window and seeing frost and rain.

I want to love Christmas and New Year's Eve, but they usually end up being crushing disappointments, at least in the last 5 years or so. I'm not holding a grudge against the holidays themselves; it's up to me to make the next ones better. I want to get more involved this year, to go out and find something to do and someone to be with. I need to meet more people to make it happen.

I HATE Christmas. Bah humbug! When the Christmas ghosts show up, I'm getting out the plasma pack.