CatdaBrat
Dec 24, 2006, 09:01 AM
Every year I feel that the general observance of the Christmas holiday is getting further and further away from something spiritual and more and more commercial and negative. I find myself pulling away from most of it, although I still am sorta locked into many of the traditions.
So many people sigh with exasperation and say they dread the season because of all the obligations, shopping, expenses, etc. It's like, "Oh, no! Not Christmas already!" They feel overwhelmed by expectations and then frustrated because they just can't manage to meet them all without a lot of stress.
I know that many people enjoy the hectic preparations, and up to a point, so do I. But as I remain observant, I keep seeing signs that our traditional ways of celebraating Christmas have just become "too much."
Take yesterday as an example. I had to go to River Park shopping center in Frez-hole to pick up some books I had printed and bound at OfficeMax. Blackstone was a snarl of traffic, just about gridlock. Every left-turn lane was loaded to the gills with hopeful drivers trying to find an opportunity to make their turns, with little success.
When I finally limped into the parking area, I did not see a single parking space anywhere. Finally found 2 or 3 off toward a far end. It wasn't the amount of vehicles that bothered me, it was the attitudes of the drivers. People were very rude and impatient, and it was like a battle zone. I wouldn't be surprised if there had even been arrests made.
There were cops and security all over trying to direct the parking lot traffic, because leaving it up to common courtesy and "rules of the road" was impossible. People cut each other off, shouted at each other, flipped "the bird," honked horns, threatened each other with their cars, you-name-it.
You could not even do a simple thing like back your car out of your parking space, to leave, without people behind you getting furious because they had to stop and wait 20 seconds. What bizarre method of reasoning do people like that follow? Like I am supposed to just sit there all day and night and not ever leave because somebody might have to stop and wait a few seconds? Oh, my mistake!
My point is that I bet almost every one of those people in the "mob" were there to do Christmas shopping and they probably enjoy listening to carols and singing "peace on earth and goodwill to all men." They probably do not even know what the words mean, as there was no evidence of Christmas spirit or peace or goodwill anywhere I looked yesterday. Even driving, I was almost run off the road by someone who passed another car, and if they had waited just 2 seconds, there wouldn't have been a need for me to dive for the ditch to avoid a head-on.
Yeah, I am sure lots of people were there yesterday and were fortunate enough to not have experienced any of this, but lucky me, I did.
I am going to reclaim some of that peace and goodwill and every year I am going to let go of more and more of the stress, the obligations, the expenses, the hassles, the frustrations, etc. People will think I am a Grinch, they will think I am a cheapskate, or lazy or whatever, but that is fine. I think Christmas needs a huge readjustment. If you think so, too, step aboard the train of change. I am not going to accept what the season has become.
So many people sigh with exasperation and say they dread the season because of all the obligations, shopping, expenses, etc. It's like, "Oh, no! Not Christmas already!" They feel overwhelmed by expectations and then frustrated because they just can't manage to meet them all without a lot of stress.
I know that many people enjoy the hectic preparations, and up to a point, so do I. But as I remain observant, I keep seeing signs that our traditional ways of celebraating Christmas have just become "too much."
Take yesterday as an example. I had to go to River Park shopping center in Frez-hole to pick up some books I had printed and bound at OfficeMax. Blackstone was a snarl of traffic, just about gridlock. Every left-turn lane was loaded to the gills with hopeful drivers trying to find an opportunity to make their turns, with little success.
When I finally limped into the parking area, I did not see a single parking space anywhere. Finally found 2 or 3 off toward a far end. It wasn't the amount of vehicles that bothered me, it was the attitudes of the drivers. People were very rude and impatient, and it was like a battle zone. I wouldn't be surprised if there had even been arrests made.
There were cops and security all over trying to direct the parking lot traffic, because leaving it up to common courtesy and "rules of the road" was impossible. People cut each other off, shouted at each other, flipped "the bird," honked horns, threatened each other with their cars, you-name-it.
You could not even do a simple thing like back your car out of your parking space, to leave, without people behind you getting furious because they had to stop and wait 20 seconds. What bizarre method of reasoning do people like that follow? Like I am supposed to just sit there all day and night and not ever leave because somebody might have to stop and wait a few seconds? Oh, my mistake!
My point is that I bet almost every one of those people in the "mob" were there to do Christmas shopping and they probably enjoy listening to carols and singing "peace on earth and goodwill to all men." They probably do not even know what the words mean, as there was no evidence of Christmas spirit or peace or goodwill anywhere I looked yesterday. Even driving, I was almost run off the road by someone who passed another car, and if they had waited just 2 seconds, there wouldn't have been a need for me to dive for the ditch to avoid a head-on.
Yeah, I am sure lots of people were there yesterday and were fortunate enough to not have experienced any of this, but lucky me, I did.
I am going to reclaim some of that peace and goodwill and every year I am going to let go of more and more of the stress, the obligations, the expenses, the hassles, the frustrations, etc. People will think I am a Grinch, they will think I am a cheapskate, or lazy or whatever, but that is fine. I think Christmas needs a huge readjustment. If you think so, too, step aboard the train of change. I am not going to accept what the season has become.