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Ugh, Christmas

Tomorrow said:
I honestly don't get all the hate over Christmas. I can't fathom why it's so offensive to see Christmas decorations - people DO buy them, after all. I mean, I could understand if Christmas was about kicking puppies or something, but it's meant to be a happy time of year for most people.

I've always started putting up our Christmas decorations the weekend following Thanksgiving, and that's when I put the Christmas music back on my iPod.
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robbieduncan said:
Exactly. It's not Christmas that's offensive. It's the spread of Christmas towards summer that is.
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See, that's the key part. The weekend AFTER Thanksgiving. NOT the day after Halloween. It's the crass commercialization of the holiday. If you only paid attention to marketers, you would think that Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving don't even exist. We just jump straight from Halloween to Christmas. I'm not offended by all this, but I am very annoyed.
 
robbieduncan said:
Exactly. It's not Christmas that's offensive. It's the spread of Christmas towards summer that is.

I mean as an Atheist I suppose I do find the celebration of a fictional character's supposed birth quite offensive. Especially as it's not even on the correct date but on a date chosen to stomp on a pre-existing festival. But I certainly don't let it get in the way of eating, drinking and being merry at the appropriate time.
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Exactly!


I resent the (extra) pressure to BUY BUY BUY being everywhere I look for 3-4 months.

Mostly though my problem with christmas is that I live in another country, 11 hours by plane and with ridiculous inflated costs to visit my family. Every christmas I've had since moving here is like ripping off a huge scab. I've consistently cried my eyes out for the weeks leading up to christmas for the last 5 years. I guess this is life as an ex-pat but it really hurts.
 
I saw the first 'Christmas shopping season' ad on an elevator screen on September 12. I came into the office telling the receptionist, "When I was a kid, this crap started the day after Thanksgiving. More recently, the day after Halloween. Now it's the goddamn day after 9/11!!!!????"
We're being brainwashed into this hype, people!

/rant
 
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We were really excited when my neighbor didn't put out his Halloween eye-assault this year, hoping it meant he was moving (we don't like him).

Then I came home to this today:

ejwh01.jpg


It has begun...he even takes over the neighbor's yard. I'm living by Neverland Ranch.
 
samiwas said:
We were really excited when my neighbor didn't put out his Halloween eye-assault this year, hoping it meant he was moving (we don't like him).

Then I came home to this today:

ejwh01.jpg


It has begun...he even takes over the neighbor's yard. I'm living by Neverland Ranch.
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That is too funny! As much as I love Christmas, I feel for you. ;)
Looks like you live in a very nice area though! :)
 
tjsdaname said:
yep, christmas stuff all over around here...

personally I don't want to see christmas stuff until there is snow on the ground lol...
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If no Christmas stuff equals no snow, sounds good to me.
Tomorrow said:
Many people put their decorations up starting around Thanksgiving. It's not unreasonable to want to purchase them before then.
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I concur.

I feel compelled to tell you that I just understood the association between your user name and location. :eek:
 
It's not called Christmas anymore, it's "The Holidays". :) Although I dislike the early advertising, I was pleasantly surprised to walk into Target this week to see a banner which read "Merry Christmas" as opposed to happy holidays. It's bad enough they advertise so early, but most retailers have to make it politically correct too. :mad:
 
gramirez2012 said:
It's not called Christmas anymore, it's "The Holidays". :) Although I dislike the early advertising, I was pleasantly surprised to walk into Target this week to see a banner which read "Merry Christmas" as opposed to happy holidays. It's bad enough they advertise so early, but most retailers have to make it politically correct too. :mad:
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Season's Greetings!
 
christmas and all the related christmas crap is pretty sweet as long as you have a job
 
Firestar said:
If no Christmas stuff equals no snow, sounds good to me.

I concur.

I feel compelled to tell you that I just understood the association between your user name and location. :eek:
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It's still 75 for the high around here, so we would be waiting a long time for snow. A couple of years ago, it snowed in Dec. for the first time in decades.

rdowns said:
Season's Greetings!
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Happy Festivus?
 
iBlue said:
Exactly!


I resent the (extra) pressure to BUY BUY BUY being everywhere I look for 3-4 months.

Mostly though my problem with christmas is that I live in another country, 11 hours by plane and with ridiculous inflated costs to visit my family. Every christmas I've had since moving here is like ripping off a huge scab. I've consistently cried my eyes out for the weeks leading up to christmas for the last 5 years. I guess this is life as an ex-pat but it really hurts.
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Cried over what exactly? Life's too short to be crying for 5 consecutive years at Christmas. If it is so bad, move back?
 
iBlue said:
Mostly though my problem with christmas is that I live in another country, 11 hours by plane and with ridiculous inflated costs to visit my family. Every christmas I've had since moving here is like ripping off a huge scab. I've consistently cried my eyes out for the weeks leading up to christmas for the last 5 years. I guess this is life as an ex-pat but it really hurts.
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I can relate to that except the crying for weeks part. Except I've been away from Canada since 1996. :eek:
 
I hate the entire season. I wish I could go into hibernation from November 1st through December 31st - waking up in time on New Years Eve to start getting hammered.

Celebrating the birth of an invisible man in the sky's magical son by a woman whose never been schtupped by skipping Thanksgiving dinner with family to stand in line in the freezing cold at Wal-Mart for a not so great deal on a flat panel TV that you can buy on Amazon for less any other time of the year just seems ridiculous to me.
 
I will readily admit that I don't much care for winter, and I am not really a fan of Christmas. Yes, I know full well that it is actually a Christian feast superimposed on an older pagan celebration which marked the time when the days ceased getting shorter and paused, saluting the deepest depths of interminable winter, just before the time when the days would begin to lengthen again.

Whatever about the older ideal of Christmas - in its many interpretations, some of which were very attractive - in common with many on this thread, I detest the increasing commercialisation of the Yuletide season, and its insidious encroachment on early winter...
 
decafjava said:
I can relate to that except the crying for weeks part. Except I've been away from Canada since 1996. :eek:
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OK, maybe that sounds worse than it is. In general I am not much of a crier so whenever I do cry I think it's a big deal. Christmas is the only consistent time out of the year where I cry fairly regularly. It's missing my family mixed with small resentments from all the pressures of doing this and that with my in-laws. There's a lot of personal emotional baggage tied up with "home", too. Just a tough time of year for me and I imagine a lot of ex-pats.
 
iBlue said:
OK, maybe that sounds worse than it is. In general I am not much of a crier so whenever I do cry I think it's a big deal. Christmas is the only consistent time out of the year where I cry fairly regularly. It's missing my family mixed with small resentments from all the pressures of doing this and that with my in-laws. There's a lot of personal emotional baggage tied up with "home", too. Just a tough time of year for me and I imagine a lot of ex-pats.
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I have to wonder, and mind you I'm strictly speaking out of curiosity and nothing more, but if you find Christmas to be offensive (referring to your agreement with robbieduncan's post), then why does it bother you to be away from your family during that time of year?

Maybe I misinterpreted your agreement as being something it isn't, and if that's the case please forgive me.
 
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