Am I the only one who dislikes Christmas/Yule/Festivus?

[Alicia Avocado]

Why I dislike Christmas/Yule/Whatever:

1) Seeing children turn from innocent individuals to materialistic, needy, and whiny beings.
2) Seeing the poor trying to keep up with the hype of having all the things one 'needs' for Christmas (excess food, materialistic gifts, decorations)
3) The environmental abuse (wrapping paper, packaging, lights left on)
4) The expectation by society that if you don't make it home for Christmas, you're going to hang yourself in a closet because you are so alone.
5) The Christmas Carols....they play EVERYWHERE! and society forgets that not everyone celebrates X-mas.
6) Advertising: "Show them how much you care by buying them _______ "
7) The expensive travel costs
8) The same old re-runs of Christmas movies, that are no longer funny, and the ones that come out that are usually focused around a dad getting a kid a Christmas gift.
9) The malls, or any place. Shopping is so incredibly frustrating for me, especially with anxiety issues, as there are hoards of people who push and snap at eachother like caged animals.
10) Having to commute during the coldest, snowiest, and iciest time of year.
11) Dealing with alcoholics who are upset because everyone can drink but them.
12) People arguing over the 'Merry Christmas" VS. "Happy Holidays" thing.
13) People giving me food that obviously has meat in it, even though every year we go through this, and they can't make an effing salad that doesn't have bacon.
14) Work parties and get-togethers

This is just based upon my experiences of Christmas...does anyone else dislike it as much as I do? I feel like the only person who doesn't want to put on a tacky sweater.

[amhappy1]

I thought I was the only one. You should appreciate your family and friends every day, not just on some over-hyped holiday. People forget what Christmas is actually supposed to be about.

[synergy]

I don't like it, for all of the reasons you list above.

But, that being said, I try to just find the positive things about it, because I hate to dwell on negativity... I try my best to block out, or reframe things that bother me, and just focus on the things I do like.

I do like that people try to be more giving and loving and see more of their families and friends. Yes, they shouldn't need an excuse or day to do that, but they do, so it's a good thing.

I like festivities, I like parties, I like myrth and merriment, and there is a little more of that around, so that's good. I also work in the restaurant biz, and Christmas means being seriously busy and making good money, so that's ok, plus I miss out on most of the parties and such that I don't want to make it too, because I have to work.

I much prefer Halloween, and would love to celebrate it twice and ignore Christmas all together, but I can't, so I just try to find ways to deal, hehe. Which is going to inspire another thread here right away, hehe.

[synergy]

Moving to the Holiday Forum.

[Brandon]

Sign me up. I can't stand it. 7 years working in a shopping mall killed any semblance of Christmas spirit I might have once had. Top that off with not being Christian and not eating the "traditional holiday food" and that doesn't leave too much.

[Alicia Avocado]

I thought I was the only one. You should appreciate your family and friends every day, not just on some over-hyped holiday. People forget what Christmas is actually supposed to be about.

THANKYOU! That is my thought exactly. I made a point of visiting my family all over the province during the summer when travel is cheaper/easier, and I'm not dealing with seasonal depression. Seeing everyone all at once is hard as you can't be 'one on one' with anyone.


But, that being said, I try to just find the positive things about it, because I hate to dwell on negativity... I try my best to block out, or reframe things that bother me, and just focus on the things I do like

Thanks :) That is good advice. My boyfriend and I have decide to focus on spending the time together, and get something useful for our home if we need it. So I'm thinking I may make a nice dinner, just he and I, on a date that works for us and sit and watch a movie or something. That just seems way more appealing.


Sign me up. I can't stand it. 7 years working in a shopping mall killed any semblance of Christmas spirit I might have once had. Top that off with not being Christian and not eating the "traditional holiday food" and that doesn't leave too much.

You deserve a medal for surviving that - seriously. I couldn't handle it.

[synergy]

Thanks :) That is good advice. My boyfriend and I have decide to focus on spending the time together, and get something useful for our home if we need it. So I'm thinking I may make a nice dinner, just he and I, on a date that works for us and sit and watch a movie or something. That just seems way more appealing.



That sounds lovely! Just make it whatever you want to be, and chuck the rest of it... When you can't chuck it, ignore it. When you can't ignore it, make fun of it, when you can't make fun of it, put your head down, get out as fast as you can and don't forget to breathe!

[Kellye]

I like a lot of things about Christmas, but I'll use this thread as an excuse to whine about the things I don't like:

- The financial burden of expensive gifts for those you know would turn their nose up or look down on you for homemade ones. Also the "gift competition"...("You said you were only going to spend X amount of dollars!")

- I'm too poor to buy as nice of gifts for affluent friends/family as they buy for me. It makes me feel guilty and helpless.

- The social obligations are so taxing for an introvert I end every day during the holidays so emotionally drained I can barely get up the next morning.

- Shopping. It sucks. I bought all of my gifts online last year and it was the best decision I ever made.

- Bad weather. Rain, snow, sleet, you name it, I detest it.


11) Dealing with alcoholics who are upset because everyone can drink but them.
This little martyr-complex-in-a-bottle.

- Corporate Christmas parties, where one can't even get drunk enough to have a good time around people you may not like that you are nevertheless forced to share an office with without looking like that lampshade-head guy.

- The atheists and theists arguing over stupid **** I couldn't, as a Buddhist, care less about.

- Salvation Army thugs. I already donate to various charities, I don't carry cash, so every time I enter a store and pass these guys by without making a donation, I feel like a jack***.

- Dealing with relatives I avoid the rest of the year.

- The obligation to put up six boxes of Christmas decorations. And the assumption that if you don't put up a Christmas tree, you are a Santa-hating devil of the scroogiest degree.

- Giving people a Christmas wish list. I just can never really think of anything I want or need badly enough to ask for it from someone else. If I really want or need it, I've already bought it.




That being said, there are a ton of things I love about Christmas.

[dancingvegan]

I agree with you, but also like Christmas because I get to see my family that I only see once a year and spend quality time with them (and two weeks off of school :D)

[Jessss2008]

I love Christmas because of the feeling. I don't care how much it costs to be with my family, it means a lot we are all together during that holiday. It is exciting for kids as well.

I see it more positively, but that is just me.

Christmas isn't about getting. I LOVE getting people stuff. It makes me feel great when they are super excited! I just like the trees, giving and being together.

[Melanie]

I hate it. I sort of go along with it for my family, but I'm not a Christian, and even if I was, it's lost all it's meaning and has turned into a materialistic, consumerist event.

Wish I could pass on it.

(Disclaimer: I feel like this about a lot of holidays and other special days)

[amaroque]

I have a somewhat dysfunctional family and Christmas is almost the one time a year that we can all put our differences aside and enjoy each other. Although I will say that as a family, we are all kind of burned out with gift giving so we pretty much forsake that particular tradition.

[Melanie]

This year, I'm sure my family will understand that I'm saving up to move away, so I'll be a bit cheap.

[Purp]

I do like the Christmas-New Year's holiday, as it is the only time my sister and her family are home (they live in Australia), we have a big holiday party with live music to celebrate family and friends, and we just give gifts to the kids, and just go off for New Year's to the beach, where it's bleak and stormy (yes, I am a dork, what can I say). I get my gifts from the dollar store for my 2 nephews (7 & 4) and my grand nice, who is also 4--it's usually puzzle books or small cars for the boys, as they fly a long distance, and I tend to go for small and flat, and the grandniece gets a puzzle book or a sticker album--no complaints. If I could afford it, I'd just get everyone a $10.00 donation from The Heifer Project ("http://www.heifer.org/) or ER-D ("http://www.er-d.org/) or another charity that could really use the money and resources better then my middle class family can.

[jenna]

AA - you might enjoy the book "skipping christmas" by john grisham (which is far, far, far better than the movie).


I hate it. I sort of go along with it for my family, but I'm not a Christian, and even if I was, it's lost all it's meaning and has turned into a materialistic, consumerist event.

Wish I could pass on it.

(Disclaimer: I feel like this about a lot of holidays and other special days)

pretty much the same here, too. i grew up christian but now i'm more in lines with buddhism. and i reallyreallyreally do not like the whole materialistic/consumerist part of it now.

i hate how commercialized it's gotten. i do enjoy making/getting things for people, though. i also like it for the fact that, because my immediate family has a hard time all getting together, having time off on the major holidays makes it easier for us to visit and spend time together.

and i spent years in retail (either in the mall or in a popular store) and that put me off to it.

[Tori~CL]

I love/hate Christmas. I agree with many reasons that has been listed.

[jenni-anti-fur]

I love the Holidays....I celebrate all of them in a special way and I love to be with family and friends and cook and bake and put up the tree with homemade cookies and silk nog...the rest of the fam has homemade eggnog.......Holiday Carols and Movies....ect...Volunteering at Various Charities... But I do that all Year.......My Guy and I do the Toys For Tots Motorcycle Ride........I have a problem with the commercialism though I think that presents are nice....a little something for everyone.....and I have a problem with sooo many trees being cut down and paper, tape, bows, being used, wasted and thrown out....(i use green bags....so its like giving another little gift that can be used again and again:).

[Purp]

Confession time: I do not like the way Christmas gets pushed back into September-October. Christmas is in December people. Dead of winter. Solstice, when the days start getting longer. Do not put Hallowe'en out in August, and do not put Christmas out in September-October. If you are in the United States, Christmas season should start the day after Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November). The rest of the world, Christmas season should start December 1 (Sorry, retailers).

Thank you for the rant, now I'll take my soapbox home.

[KirstenKat]

I love Christmas I'm a holiday sap but it's the greedy people who bring me down. Shopping aghh my mom drove me and my brothers to the dollar store to buy each other stuff last year by the dreaded mall area and twice we almost got in an accident. One
person even got mad at US cause they didn't have patience at a stopsign. And my sister has become greedy unfortunatly so asks for uggs a laptop h
games etc and she's 11! But I'm an opptimist and a sap so I don't let the crappy parts bring me down. I get into It really early and for me it's just about an innocent magical time.

[Toast]

I love x-mas although I'm not of any religion. I celebrate the Winter Solstice and x-mas.

I do hate that some sheeple spend a fortune on presents to keep up with other people they know and then they complain that they have no money in the New Year. I also hate that turkeys are the designated murder victims at that time of year.

[dormouse]

I like Christmas, but not so much for the holiday (though I do love twinkle lights) but for the opportunity to see lots of my family. I like the long holiday from school. I like having large feasts. Even though every year it becomes less exciting, I still feel excited for all of the little kids around Christmas, because I remember how magical it felt.

I guess I like it in the same way I like my birthday because people give me money. I have absolutely no income, so I very much appreciate the checks inside of cards.

My favorite holiday tradition: watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and drinking beer with some of my relatives.

[Mufflon]

I like the Holidays. Leisure time! W00T! :)

[smedley]

i hate the holidays for the same reasons others have stated. and yeah--dont start halloween in august or christmas in september--just ridiculous--how is any of it special anymore? my bah humbug starts the first time i hear a damn holiday song or see a tree up and october isnt even over.

[Envy]

Aww, I have no problems with christmas.

Still ok for me who likes presents.

[whisper]

Why I dislike Christmas/Yule/Whatever:

1) Seeing children turn from innocent individuals to materialistic, needy, and whiny beings.
2) Seeing the poor trying to keep up with the hype of having all the things one 'needs' for Christmas (excess food, materialistic gifts, decorations)
3) The environmental abuse (wrapping paper, packaging, lights left on)
4) The expectation by society that if you don't make it home for Christmas, you're going to hang yourself in a closet because you are so alone.
5) The Christmas Carols....they play EVERYWHERE! and society forgets that not everyone celebrates X-mas.
6) Advertising: "Show them how much you care by buying them _______ "
7) The expensive travel costs
8) The same old re-runs of Christmas movies, that are no longer funny, and the ones that come out that are usually focused around a dad getting a kid a Christmas gift.
9) The malls, or any place. Shopping is so incredibly frustrating for me, especially with anxiety issues, as there are hoards of people who push and snap at eachother like caged animals.
10) Having to commute during the coldest, snowiest, and iciest time of year.
11) Dealing with alcoholics who are upset because everyone can drink but them.
12) People arguing over the 'Merry Christmas" VS. "Happy Holidays" thing.
13) People giving me food that obviously has meat in it, even though every year we go through this, and they can't make an effing salad that doesn't have bacon.
14) Work parties and get-togethers

This is just based upon my experiences of Christmas...does anyone else dislike it as much as I do? I feel like the only person who doesn't want to put on a tacky sweater.

I agree with the above plus:

Getting lots of junk you didn't want to begin with and are now stuck keeping and displaying so as not to hurt anyones feelings.

Having to visit with people you purposely avoid the rest of the year, because you just don't like spending time with them, and don't want to hear a lecture about the latest thing they find wrong with your life. Or have to listen to them brag about how wonderful their life is because they made so much money and bought lots of expensive things.

All the animals being given as pets that soon end up in the shelter because they were never wanted.