I would like Christmas to be renamed to something more exclusive, but my dad has been writing have a cool yule in his non-religious Christmas cards for years, and he just comes across like a daft old hippy. Those of us who are vaguely atheist, rather than specifically of other religions and cultures, have no obvious grounds for refusing to join in with the tinsel-fest.
But I haven’t worked out how to explain this to my family, who seem to see no further than a mountain of food and the opportunity to demand that we visit them. Apparently mid-winter is the optimum time to take to the roads, and if everyone else is doing it, then so should we. Having said that, the seeing-the-family part is the bit that I think is most important. It would be even better if we could only do this once a year.
I would like to set a maximum spending limit on all presents, or better still, ban Christmas presents, and put the money into better birthday presents, which can of course be enjoyed all year round (on the basis that giving is better than receiving; pull the other one). Or put the money into Amazon vouchers. Amazon vouchers are the BEST present a girl can get.
What befuddles me the most is christmas cards that are handed to me by people. If I can see them with my eyes, and hear them speak, then why do they need to write “Happy Christmas” on a piece of paper and hand it to me?
I am marginally less befuddled by the fact that 22 of my colleagues, most of whom I would not recognise in the street, have sent me Christmas cards; including one member of my own team, who listened carefully to me explaining that I did not wish to give or receive Christmas cards, and then wrote one out, took it down two flights of stairs and across the road to our other building, and put it in a red plastic postbox, from where it was delivered to me the next day, along with my copy of Workplace Law and some junkmail about training. All without the remotest sense of irony.
December 22, 2004
General rant about Christmas
I’m still trying to convince people that I don’t want presents (I don’t understand they say and give me one anyway) and if they really must, make a donation to charity (preferably cancer) in my name.
I might blog about this .. on Christmas day perhaps.
I’m appalled by your behaviour, Adrian. Haven’t the charities got enough on their plates without people giving them cancer too?
Bah humbug.
🙂
I haven’t read so much perfect common sense about Christmas in a long while. I dream of the day when the nation – the world, come to that – suddenly wakes up to a sense of, er, common sense about Christmas. I doubt whether they will, however, which is why I’m already thinking of taking the coward’s option and going on a retreat next festive season. With a bag of humbugs, obviously.
Here here.
As I commented… er… on naked blog I think. Christmas isn’t a religious holiday anymore, it’s a time to see family and friends. We aren’t actually buying our friends presents this year as we decided last year that it was all a bit daft and needless. We’d much rather spend the extra cash on booze!
Some people at my workplace arranged a giant Christmas Card which you could sign in return for donating the amount you’d usually spend on cards to charity. Not a bad idea really, and lots of people took it up so I think they raised a lot of money.
Having said all that, I do like a good carol concert.