500 Words a Day

13 December, 2007; 501 Words

So it's another day I have to write.  I find it very irritating to write when there are poeple around, but right now it seems that I can't escape them.  I'll do it anyway just to spite the bastards.

I hate christmas.  Regardless of this fact, I also hate the epidemic of 'Happy Holidays!'.  I would rather hear 'Merry Christmas', it's more American.  Why is it that so many of my countrymen feel that we should feel ashamed for having a semblance of culture?  It we don't embrace what's left of the culture we have, there won't be any left to set ourselves apart in the future!  On that note, I don't hate the other religious holidays as much, if at all, compared to Christmas.  To dispel the angry reader, I don't hate Christmas for the religious reasons.  I hate it for the Santa Claus bit.  What at one time was a noble endeavor has turned into a seasonal spending nightmare.  Maybe it's because I'm a male, but I just don't get it.  Why do people go to such great lengths to buy each other stuff that they don't want?  Let's just throw a bunch of really great parties, get all the families together for some egg nog fun, and go on with our lives.

Gifts are such a pain in the ass; I hate giving and receiving them.  Many girlfriends I've had have considered me insensitive and immoral for my feelings on the act of gift giving.  I don't understand, though, why they feel that way.  I hold no grudges, make no suggestions, and place absolutely no importance on any of the gift giving events of the year.  Yes, I hate my birthday, too.

I dread the moment at which I'm required to open a pleasantly wrapped package.  I never even want to know what's in it because I don't want to let down those that are giving it to me.  I guarantee that the way they expect me to feel just isn't there.  Everybody knows it... that's the fraud in the whole thing.  They expect you to look excited and happy, no matter what is inside.

And requirements of giving gifts are just as hard.  I despise shopping for other people.  There is nothing out there in the stores, and otherwise, that will ever be the perfect gift to give somebody.  Let me modify that: there is no perfect gift that fits inside a budget.  That's right, no one wants to spend more than a trivial amount of money on somebody else, do they.

We all know what comes of all this:  nobody gets what they want.  Everybody spends a bunch of money on each other.  Everybody has a bunch of crap they don't want.  Nobody throws any of it away or returns any of it out of embarassment.  The manufacturers of all this crap get a whole lot of money and repeat the release of useless crap next year.

To sum everything up for you:  I hate Christmas.