"It's not the giving, it's not the getting. It's the loving. There, I said it. Now get outta here."- Garfield, A Garfield Christmas
It’s Christmas time once again, for better or worse. I’d like to write something about what how I’ll be spending the holiday, what I’d like to get, and my favorite parts of the season’ but after reading Shannon’s post below I can’t help but try and play devil’s advocate on both sides and maybe make an argument for Christmas.
Let me preface all this by saying I work 35-40 hours a week at a grocery store. (Some day when I have a lot of free time I will write an epic post about my job but I won’t bore you with that right now).
Like many places, from Black Friday onward I have heard nothing – nothing – but fucking politically correct, holiday themed festive songs. I call them that because they are not the Christmas carols I grew up loving (Silent Night, Joy to the World etc.). Those are effectively banned from Stop and Shop. Thus I am forced to work while listening to no less than 8 versions of Winter Wonderland, a half-dozen Sleigh Rides and far too many Jingle Bell Rocks and White Christmases. I’m all for diversity but when political correctness turns my job (which usually sucks a great deal) into a veritable hell than it really pisses me off. So there’s that about Christmas. Like Shannon, the music gets to me.
The other thing is the fact that, as I think we all know Christmas is totally and blatantly over-commercialized. It’s all become one giant excuse to get you to buy something – anything – and it annoys me. What makes me mad this year is that in an economic situation where you would expect many people to accept sacrifices involving presents, wish lists etc., it’s the same old trend of Christmas consumerism. Nothing’s changed since when I first watched Charlie Brown’s Christmas as a kid. Charlie’s friends were obsessed with having the perfect aluminum tree and getting the best part in the Christmas pageant while Charlie just wanted to figure out what Christmas was all about.
There are any number of reasons for people to not be fond of the holidays: not getting what you really want (a better job) and losing a loved one during this time of year is also really tough to handle. I only listed a few reasons above, but for the sake of brevity I’ll switch over and try to make the case for why Christmas is still a great time of year.
My favorite Christmas movie growing up was Mickey’s Christmas Carol (Mickey Mouse by the way. And if you never saw it do yourself a favor and check it out on youtube).
Anyway, I loved Dickens’s parable as a kid for the same reason I love it now – though I probably didn’t realize it as a kid. It’s the idea of redemption. Even the meanest old son of a bitch can still change into a kind-hearted charitable old guy. The other day I saw the live-action version with George C. Scott, one of the best actors ever, as Scrooge.
I really got into it not just because Scott turned Scrooge into a seriously mean bastard but because it was true to the book. Early on, Scrooge’s nephew Fred drops by his office wishing all a Merry Christmas. Scrooge replies, “Christmas? Bah. What good is Christmas? A time for buying things for which you have no money. For finding yourself one year older and not an hour richer. What good has Christmas ever done for anyone? If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”
That’s pretty harsh. But it’s Fred’s response which is crucial to understanding why Christmas really is good and my favorite time of year.
“There are many things from which I might have derived good by which I have not profited, I dare say, Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmastime, when it has come round. as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”
Amen Fred, Amen. Sure 40 hours a week worth of god-awful pop versions of politically correct Christmas music sucks – it sucks a lot. And the fact that a great holiday has been morphed into an attempt to sell consumers out of their last pennies is gay. (New Jersey has more malls than any state in the union so I’ve seen this commercialism thing first-hand since birth.)
No, as Scrooge says, it doesn’t put any gold in your pocket – quite the opposite in fact. But as Fred says, it is also perhaps the only time of year when we recognize that no matter what our differences, we’re all in the same boat cruising along on this journey called life together. And that’s a pretty great excuse for gathering with your loved ones and celebrating.
Have a merry one.
Let me preface all this by saying I work 35-40 hours a week at a grocery store. (Some day when I have a lot of free time I will write an epic post about my job but I won’t bore you with that right now).
Like many places, from Black Friday onward I have heard nothing – nothing – but fucking politically correct, holiday themed festive songs. I call them that because they are not the Christmas carols I grew up loving (Silent Night, Joy to the World etc.). Those are effectively banned from Stop and Shop. Thus I am forced to work while listening to no less than 8 versions of Winter Wonderland, a half-dozen Sleigh Rides and far too many Jingle Bell Rocks and White Christmases. I’m all for diversity but when political correctness turns my job (which usually sucks a great deal) into a veritable hell than it really pisses me off. So there’s that about Christmas. Like Shannon, the music gets to me.
The other thing is the fact that, as I think we all know Christmas is totally and blatantly over-commercialized. It’s all become one giant excuse to get you to buy something – anything – and it annoys me. What makes me mad this year is that in an economic situation where you would expect many people to accept sacrifices involving presents, wish lists etc., it’s the same old trend of Christmas consumerism. Nothing’s changed since when I first watched Charlie Brown’s Christmas as a kid. Charlie’s friends were obsessed with having the perfect aluminum tree and getting the best part in the Christmas pageant while Charlie just wanted to figure out what Christmas was all about.
There are any number of reasons for people to not be fond of the holidays: not getting what you really want (a better job) and losing a loved one during this time of year is also really tough to handle. I only listed a few reasons above, but for the sake of brevity I’ll switch over and try to make the case for why Christmas is still a great time of year.
My favorite Christmas movie growing up was Mickey’s Christmas Carol (Mickey Mouse by the way. And if you never saw it do yourself a favor and check it out on youtube).
Anyway, I loved Dickens’s parable as a kid for the same reason I love it now – though I probably didn’t realize it as a kid. It’s the idea of redemption. Even the meanest old son of a bitch can still change into a kind-hearted charitable old guy. The other day I saw the live-action version with George C. Scott, one of the best actors ever, as Scrooge.
I really got into it not just because Scott turned Scrooge into a seriously mean bastard but because it was true to the book. Early on, Scrooge’s nephew Fred drops by his office wishing all a Merry Christmas. Scrooge replies, “Christmas? Bah. What good is Christmas? A time for buying things for which you have no money. For finding yourself one year older and not an hour richer. What good has Christmas ever done for anyone? If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”
That’s pretty harsh. But it’s Fred’s response which is crucial to understanding why Christmas really is good and my favorite time of year.
“There are many things from which I might have derived good by which I have not profited, I dare say, Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmastime, when it has come round. as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”
Amen Fred, Amen. Sure 40 hours a week worth of god-awful pop versions of politically correct Christmas music sucks – it sucks a lot. And the fact that a great holiday has been morphed into an attempt to sell consumers out of their last pennies is gay. (New Jersey has more malls than any state in the union so I’ve seen this commercialism thing first-hand since birth.)
No, as Scrooge says, it doesn’t put any gold in your pocket – quite the opposite in fact. But as Fred says, it is also perhaps the only time of year when we recognize that no matter what our differences, we’re all in the same boat cruising along on this journey called life together. And that’s a pretty great excuse for gathering with your loved ones and celebrating.
Have a merry one.
2 comments:
go toady! i enjoyed your quotes. you're such a journalism major.
I can't wait to hear about stop and shop. I spent my time slaving at shopright in the grochery department and also dairy. People go nuts this time of year. Great post Richard.
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