devvyn

I hate meaningless, unquestioned traditions.

My idea for an ideal alternative gift-giving holiday would be my birthday instead of Christmas. I think it's ridiculous to do a gift-giving celebration while all your friends and family do the same thing. Since birthdays occur throughout the year, it's less insane and less exploitable.

On a fervent give-a-thon like Christmas, one might end up in situations that involve people shopping for relatives they barely know, or giving gifts of cash to people who give gifts of cash back to them and other laughable, illogical outcomes like that. If we all celebrated our bonds with family and friends on our own birthday, we could give gifts to those who have a connection to us, as a thank you for being there.

I don't think I should get gifts on my birthday because it makes no sense to celebrate my own birth. My parents put all the effort into that, not I as an infant, so I should reward them with gifts and sentiment on my birthday, not the other way around. Just as with Christmas, Father's Day and Mother's Day are commercially exploited, so it makes more sense to choose a personal time to celebrate such connections rather than to line one up with a calendar the businesses are watching.

I realise there's a religious root to many holidays, and there are obviously those who couldn't bear to break such cherished traditions. Well, I'm neither religious nor concerned about preserving traditions that don't withstand a logical examination. Feel free to challenge this idea but I think it has merit and I'm going to try it out like a true eccentric.

Blagh... every year I try not to make a big deal out of Christmas.  I'm not religious.  I'm not much for traditions.  I especially don't like Christmas because of the drift toward pure, almost unbridled materialism that sweeps in with it as a substitute for the sense of community that Christmas represents in spirit.  Yeah, we're a community of frantic shoppers.

I was at Toys 'R' Us a few days ago with my room mate Cody.  We go there routinely.  He collects transformers and I collect plushies, so it's usually a productive trip.  And that's usually good.  But around this time of year, it gets disturbing and scary.  I saw a woman with a shopping cart next to us, on the far side of a display stand in the isle.  Now, her shopping cart was facing away from us, so when she comes back from where ever she was to return to her cart, I figured she'd push the cart in that direction and go around the display stand.  But no.  She backs the cart up to do a turn towards us and says, "excuse me" with this expectant look on her face.  We move to the other side of the display case, and she passes us, and goes to our immediate other side, where we weren't even standing to begin with, and where she could have gone by simply rolling the cart in the direction it was facing to start with a tiny bit of steering.  When she gets to the shelf, she puts the cart under the hangers and starts literally sweeping armfuls of toys into it.  After three armfuls of WWE action figures, she examines the selection for a moment, and then turns to no one in particular and asks, "where are the people who work here?"  At that time, we were actually two metres away from three manned checkouts.  Yes, she was within earshot and still said that with her now self-stereotyping, expectant tone.  I rolled my eyes and tried to shift my focus.  "Where's customer service?" I heard her ask as I walked away.  Blah.  Apparently being nice on Christmas doesn't apply to those in a hurry, and the employees who are in the stores being nice to these repulsive perversions of holiday spirit don't deserve anything in return.  You know, all the employees want is to not be treated like an obstacle when they're trying to help you.  You don't even have to be super nice.  Just don't be mean.  The way the holiday season works these days, not being mean in a store can be seen as a kind gesture.  *Rrrrrrr*

So, it's things like that that make me less excited about Christmas.  I'm a veritable Mr Scrooge.  Don't get me wrong about generosity.  I delight in giving gifts.  I just hate buying gifts for Christmas.  I much prefer impromtu gifts.  I'm not into this "oh, it's Christmas, go find a suitable gift for everyone you know or at least those who might get you something" thing.  I'm more the type of guy who might be wandering through the mall on a regular day and see something that makes me think "oh my god, so-and-so would explode if I gave her this."  That, I will buy.  I do this with family, friends, and occasionally, people I don't know too well.  And that is my justification for my "bah, humbug" attitude.

Now, having said all that, I suddenly find myself downloading scads of Christmas music remixes today and actually feeling excited over the fact that today is the day of Christmas Eve.  Go figure.  The only explanation I can come up with for that is that I do pick up on the moods of others, and my mom seemed so insistant on getting me a gift and inviting me for supper that I know she's happy about it all.  That makes me happy.  So, mom, I love you, and thank you for inadvertantly showing me that Christmas isn't permanently ruined as a celebration of good things.

Merry Chistmas everyone.