ed [email] said at 7:30 AM 12-22-2005: Christmas started out as a holiday. Much like Christianity is (rightly) accused of usurping the Roman holiday Saturnalia, secular capitalism has usurped Christmas, turning it first into "Christmas season" and now the more PC "holiday season". It's hard to rack up record profits if you don't turn a holiday into a month-plus long frenzy of "if your loved one doesn't buy you THIS, they don't really love you".
reggie [email] said at 8:06 AM 12-22-2005: Technically y'all are right however as someone who comes from a really large and loving family with members spread all up and down the east coast, I have to say Christmas has always been more than just a single holiday for me.
That's because we may have one big Christmas dinner in the DC area on my Mom's side and then travel down to NoCarolina (sometimes AFTER New Year's) for the big Christmas dinner with my Dad's side (or go to North Cakalacka for both.)
meredith [email] said at 12:45 PM 12-22-2005: Christmas wouldn't be such a big deal if everyone would just quit bitching about it and enjoy it for what it is.
shelly [email] said at 5:15 PM 12-22-2005: The mandatory purchase of uneeded gifts you can't afford in exchange for guilt-inducing gifts you don't want, but must be thankful for? The orgiastic forcefeeding of unhealthy foods? The frenzied familial & social obligation overload and resulting annual panic attacks? The wildly inconsiderate and selfish behavior which must be tolerated with a smile or the accusations of "scrooge" or "grinch" must be endured, while still having the overbearing "merrymaking" of badly made cookies and ugly sweaters inflicted upon you unabated.
You're right, it is THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!
amy [email] said at 1:06 AM 12-23-2005: make it unmandatory. i had a long conversation with my sister/brother and basically said i will never BUY your kids a xmas present bc i refuse to make a perfectly wonderful happy holiday be turned into a contest. instead we have begun an ornament tradition. her children will make and send mine an ornament every year and we will do the same. i plan to institute the same tradition with hubbies side. i would much rather have something my nieces and nephews made with their little hands with love especially for us than anything bought in a store. if i want something i can buy it for myself. in the same vein i usually make jewelry every xmas, sure it costs alot of money but each piece is uniquely designed and created for one person.
if you really hate the guilt exchange, then stop it. tell ppl you dont want presents. tell them to donate to charity in your name. shop for a needy family instead. i miss my family so much at xmas i wish those of you complaining about the hassles and the commercialism would realize how lucky you are.
craig [email] said at 11:47 PM 12-22-2005: I would agree there as well. Unfortunately these same things are propagated by the same institutions that encourage Christmas.
kiche [email] said at 8:35 PM 12-22-2005: christmas is NOT out of control.
christmas will be out of control when i dress up like santa claus fire up a four wheeler dressed up to look like a sleigh and drive around shooting things while drinking pabst blue ribbon.
rick [email] said at 11:37 PM 12-22-2005: Or when I inject reindeer with the virus from "Twenty-Eight Days Later" and outfit the elves with the vehicles of "Robotech."
amanda [email] said at 12:29 PM 12-22-2005: Christmas (as the birthday of Jesus) probably didn't occur in December anyway so I don't see why everyone is so upset over the PC "holidays" thing. From what I've heard from religious scholars, Christmas is much more likely to be in July or August. Why don't all the religious whackos care about the fact that they aren't even celebrating the birth of Christ in the correct month? If I were Jesus I'd be pissed off.
