The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. I'm trying to sleep!
Sorry
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1...426-Angel_Bunnyfluttershyforestsnowwinter.jpg
What don't you like about Christmas?
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
Sorry
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1...426-Angel_Bunnyfluttershyforestsnowwinter.jpg
I hate the naked commercialism.
My mother used to go completely over the top when we were kids, to create the perfect Christmas. But it wasn't "for the kids" it was purely for show, to impress other people. Feck knows why, but every year she'd drive the family to distraction and nearly give herself a nervous breakdown making sure the house was spotless and redecorated, that there was new bedlinen, cushion covers and curtains (most of which she made herself)
I have no happy childhood memories of Christmas, in fact I can't even remember what presents I used to get - I do know they were inevitably something practical or useful like a pair of shoes for school. I remember going to school after the holidays and listening to everyone going on about what they got/did for Christmas, and I'd just be glad it was all over for another year!
Actually naked advertising would probably help.
Most of the people in my family are adults now, but we still make Amazon wish lists and send them to each other. Part of the reason that I do it is because my family members constantly ask me to, or say things like, "well if you don't tell me what you want, I'm not getting you anything!"
The other reason is that I'm a rather picky consumer. Usually when people get me a surprise gift that I wasn't expecting, I don't like it. I still appreciate it and the thoughtfulness behind it, but it often sits unused or even gets returned/regifted. It's just easier for everyone involved if I make a list! Plus I think if everyone doing it has the right attitude it isn't a big deal. What I mean is, none of us expect to get everything on our list. Heck even if I got nothing from my list I wouldn't be disappointed, but if my family members find it a useful way to buy gifts for me, then I won't deny them that!
Most of the people in my family are adults now, but we still make Amazon wish lists and send them to each other. Part of the reason that I do it is because my family members constantly ask me to, or say things like, "well if you don't tell me what you want, I'm not getting you anything!"
In my family, if you want something, you've probably already bought it for yourself. I couldn't even make a list if I tried.
See, I actually like lists. I can't stand it when I ask people what they want for Christmas and they say, "Oh, whatever." When I say, "Please give me some ideas," and they refuse to, that gets annoying, because often these same people are the ones who sigh loudly at whatever sad little item they happen to receive. I WANT to make people happy, so I'd like some kind of idea what they'd like. I have no problem with lists at all, as long as they are given ONLY when asked for--not sent out as some kind of demand or expectation. I always have a list up on Amazon (year-round, actually, as much for my own sake and poor memory) if anyone asks for it, but I'm happy to get whatever I get, even if it's just a card.
I had to have a little talk with my nephew this year, after he sent everyone in the family an email informing us to just send him cash and gift cards, so he can go out and buy the "high end" gifts that he "actually wants." *facepalm* Luckily, the two of us are close enough that I can call him and have a "little chat" about the teenage delusions he seems to be suffering from.
When I see this kind of behavior in ADULTS, it's even more depressing. The holiday is about giving, not getting. Shouldn't people just be happy that someone wants to give them anything?
If I had a bazillion dollars, I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to go into a poor neighborhood and just randomly give people hundreds of dollars a piece. If I had the funds, I'd be one of those people who goes into the department stores and restaurants and secretly pays other people's bills before disappearing into the night. That would make me gloriously happy.
See, that's probably the difference. I would never even dream of asking someone what they want for Christmas. Part of the fun for me is trying to figure out what to get them!
The commercialization really puts me off, too, but "two hundred years"? I think an argument could made for eighty years without much difficulty at all, or for any of a number of shorter periods, but to which two-hundred-years-ago milestone do you think you'd point?
Some people I can pick out a gift for in a second; other people, like my oldest sister, are people I will never understand until the day I die. I HAVE to ask, because she is completely opposite to me in almost every way. And my mom, who is fairly wealthy, HAS everything already, but I know she loves movies and books; I just need to know which ones she wants this year.
Naked Santa frolicking with his reindeer would make for a niche XXXmas video......
Thanks for that...
200 is pushing it a little bit, but it's fairly easy to argue that the commercialisation of Christmas stretches back to the start of Victorian England, and in particular the way the Royal Family's Christmas was marketed to the burgeoning middle classes of the time. So maybe from about the 1830/40s onwards.
Many of our stereotypical Christmas traditions stretch back to this time, and Dickens' Christmas Carol (early 1840s) really cemented them in the public consciousness through its (very commercially-minded) publication in the week before Christmas! In fact, depending on how much you want to read into A Christmas Carol, it's possible to argue it's a lament about the over-commercialisation of Christmas....
And then there's all that swearing as he tries to squeeze down the chimney....The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. I'm trying to sleep!
Be thankful Santa doesn't wear bells when he's actually making deliveries. They would make one helluva racket in the still quiet of night.
Nice.
Now that's the kind of commercialism I can get behind. Or beside. Or in front of.
The overly commercialized Christmas music. I prefer the more traditional types of Christmas music.
About lists, my parents often ask me to make a list to give them an idea of what I want. Not very many items, but they're also not my main items. Usually some smaller things that give them an idea of which direction to go in. The bigger stuff they usually come up on their own, and it's something I have no expectations over at all, so it works out well.
About lists, my parents often ask me to make a list to give them an idea of what I want. Not very many items, but they're also not my main items. Usually some smaller things that give them an idea of which direction to go in. The bigger stuff they usually come up on their own, and it's something I have no expectations over at all, so it works out well.
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This. And people who make three thousand threads about it.
I'd call you something else, but I'll avoid mentioning it out of Christmas courtesy.
Apart from people being alone and are very sick during Christmas, which could make sad and lonely, I think some people just over-analyze things. Just go out and have fun or have fun with your family celebrating Christmas. Don't let useless information bring you down. I think that's the problem with people. We tend to over analyze things because of all the useless information bombarding us. Just have fun because we are only here in the sun for only a short while.
I agree! So next time your kids are unhappy about what they got...just tell them there could have been monsters with whips that like little children for breakfast that wants to come and see them. [laugh] just be grateful for what you got; it could have been a lot worse.
Almost everybody else here has said it, but I hate the commercialism too. The cheap, crappy plastic ornaments that tie in to some movie or another, the Christmas films based various animated movie franchises (that often don't even employ the same voice actors).
I live in Oregon, with the whole stupid "Ducks vs. Beavers" football shtick, and I don't see how anybody can feel like anything other than a massive, throbbing, pulsating, drooling, brainless tool upon buying an officially licensed stocking, team-colored Christmas tree or lawn gnome.
I live in Oregon, with the whole stupid "Ducks vs. Beavers" football shtick, and I don't see how anybody can feel like anything other than a massive, throbbing, pulsating, drooling, brainless tool upon buying an officially licensed stocking, team-colored Christmas tree or lawn gnome.
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