I’m the meanest person, ever.
I was buying underwear yesterday. (In the men’s section! Not that there’s anything wrong with your sick twisted mind and what you just thought, but that’s just not how I roll. Mostly.)
So I’m in the men’s section and this 8-9 year old girl comes up and yells “Merry Christmas!” I look down at her and smile and say “Hello.”
She begins to walk away and then turns around as if just hearing me, “I said Merry Christmas!” Then her little sister (maybe 6 or 7) showed up and also said “Merry Christmas!” in a similarly loud voice.
At this point my mind went in two different directions:
“Yes, I know, but not everyone celebrates Christmas. Now go away and shut the frak up.”
or
“Yes, I know.” and I turned away and continued rifling through the packages on the rack.*
They both left but for the next twenty minutes I heard “Merry Christmas!” echoing throughout the store as the girls continued to come up to people and yell it at the top of their lungs. I was on the other side of the store and I could still hear them. Parents? Smiling nearby. “Ah ain’t they so cute!”
Maybe if I had used the first line the girls might have limited their efforst. But they were too young to get into any sort of discussion with them and so I had to let it pass. Why bother when you’re audience just doesn’t understand?
But I wonder, what did that mean to them? Were they simply being nice and trying to cheer people up? Well if that’s the goal you don’t have to wait til one time in the year to do that. You can always look at someone and smile and wave and say hello, acknowledge them as a person and move on.
Or were they super happy this month because they know they’re getting lots of presents and toys to play with and so were living high on the consumption of product?
This faux pleasantry that suddenly springs up around December always bugged me. People are extra nice and floaty and sickly sweet. It’s hypocritical and makes no sense at all.
Don’t lie to your children about some imaginary fat man who is looking over their shoulder so they better be good (by the way, isn’t this the same story the church uses for sin?), or wrap it in mythology about a teenager 2000 years ago who had an affair and couldn’t bring herself to tell her husband, “I cheated on you.”, and later spat out a bastard child in a barn.
If you want to be nice then be nice. Don’t wait for the one month out of the year where it’s expected.
*FYI - Hanes - tagless, boxers, 4 pack. But if you look through the rows you’ll sometimes find a 5 pack special deal (one free) for the same price.”
I think you were mean, in that an 8-9 year old probably doesn’t have some weird motive. So your philosophic reasons for not saying Merry Christmas fell on deaf ears.
But, after your rant here, I don’t want to see you EVER celebrate anything. And I want you at work on those national holidays as well.
It’s part of being human to have holidays. Because by and large it’s damn hard to celebrate every day. Hard to be nice all year. If you take Christmas away, then thats just one more time of year where people will lack the motivation to be better than normal.
Well I did say I was the meanest person, ever. 8^)
I always enjoy discussing stuff with you Sghoul because you never hold anything back.
But it wasn’t just that she is a little girl, I don’t say it even to adults. I don’t say it at all. It would be hypocritical of me to say words that mean nothing to me just because they mean something to others and pretend that I’m on the same page as them.
As to your other comment I think you missed my point. I wasn’t ranting against celebrations I was speaking about the forced pleasantness that people put on around this time. And this compulsive need to purchase gifts so you don’t disappoint the kids, family or friends has nothing to do with anything other than buying stuff.
And because of this social pressure people purchase things they would never get at any other time. How much is spent on plastic lawn ornaments that are tossed in Jan? If you appreciate someone buy them something whenever you want, not because there’s an obligation in Dec. (BTW this goes the same for anniversaries and flowers. I’m not gonna buy fifty dollars worth of flowers because it’s a one year anniversary on this random particular day; I’ll buy them whenever I want because I love you and you make me happy and I want to see you smile and be surprised.)
As for not accepting national holidays, I don’t take holidays off because I believe in them. I take them off because I don’t like working. Why work when you don’t have too - especially if you’re still getting paid? I would much rather be doing my own projects and spending time with friends than working every day.
So don’t be nice all year, but don’t be nice because this month you’re supposed to be nice. (For whatever reason.)
As to your last comment about “taking away Christmas, then that’s just one more time of year where people will lack the motivation to be better than normal”. Really?
I think that’s sad.
That you think we have to be bribed into behaving nicely toward our fellow man. Maybe we should focus on why we need motivation just to be happy in our everyday lives rather than making up ridiculous excuses to fill our time with occasional cheer and waste our resources on disposable merchandise? Maybe if we focused on the root reasons (and causes) behind the traditions we hold and the behaviors we engage in, our society would be much better off?
Or we can just trudge along and wait for the next holiday month to fill our time with good will and *overly* unnecessary expenses.
Jan (confetti, plastic cups/plates)
Feb (love guilt/gifts)
Mar (buy drink, pee, repeat)
Apr (color eggs, buy candy, bunny=god son??)
May (mother guilt/gifts)
May (buy drink, pee, repeat)
Jun (father guilt/gifts) (spring break)
Jul (eat a lot, drink a lot, buy flags)
Sept (eat drink, hang with buds)
Oct (Wal-Mart costumes month)
Nov (eat a lot, buy pilgrim stuff)
Dec (purchase, purchase, purchase)
Repeat
First, I hope most children are smarter than they were and know to stay away from you just by looking at you.
Second: I agree, people shouldn’t just be nice for December, or around Holidays. I make it a point to be grumpy no matter when.
Of course, I am guilty of buying stuff just in Decemember for people because of the guilt. But it’s not just that, it’s about tradition and celebration and feeling good because you can do things for people you love. I’m building computers for my little sisters.
I agree that all of the holidays you mention have been turned into money making schemes. That seems to happen in every society since time began.
Looking past this - I see the spirit of peoples from all cultures celebrating something within their belief systems.
Unless one is a Pagan,Jewish, JW, etc. it is beyond difficult to take Christmas and gifts away from the American culture. Altlhough, the economy just might eventually do it!
Actually the holidays you mentioned have Paga roots. The Christian Church could not do away with them so simply assigned them new meanings.
Easter, for example, has always been a celebration of the fertility of the earth- earth coming back to life.
Yule- Christmas, Candlemass- Valentines- Litha- celebration of lights- and one you might enjoy- Beltane- food, drink, love, clothing optional, dancing around the Maypole!
Even Native Americans celebrate with Sun Dance, etc.
Perhaps people just love any ole’ excuse to have a party…. or maybe your underware was showing. Smart little girls:)
Yeah, I wasn’t going to get into the Christian acquisition of Pagan holidays because that would take a completely separate blog post and while very rant worthy doesn’t really solve anything. Mostly because people just don’t give a shit anymore.
When truth is so well understood and yet still ignored as having no value does it matter as truth?
It’s the happy lies we tell ourselves that seem to smooth the wheels of history.