1) I no longer enjoy receiving gifts:
I don't want gifts. I don't ask for gifts. In fact, i tell people not to give me gifts. So what happens every christmas? I get gifts. And it pisses me off. But i can't be pissed about it. I have to be all, "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!" And this just incenses me even more. I DO NOT WANT THIS GIFT! That doesn't mean i don't appreciate it, doesn't mean that i'm not grateful. I'm very grateful. I'm grateful for the gift & the fact that someone cares enough about me to give it to me. Problem is, i know i just don't deserve it.
2) I would like to give, but can't:
I'm not generally a very giving person. And i'm most certainly not charitable. But i do like to do things for and give to people i care about. Unfortunately, though, the past few years i have been completely broke (this for many reasons - i'm a student, i work as little as possible, i'm a moron, etc, etc). Therefore, i cannot buy anyone anything. This, of course, makes it even worse when they give me something. Oh, how i long for the days when a macaroni christmas card was sufficient.
3) I'm agnostic:
I, much to the ire of many, don't particularly believe in god, or that the Bible is holy writ. Thus, i am extremely resentful that i'm forced to be all, "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!" on a day that celebrates the birthday of a character from a book. And even if i was a religious man, i'd be sickened at how commercialized the day is. I mean, this is supposed to be the birthday of the son of the person that created the whole world, and all it is now is an excuse to have a 24-hour sale & to get off of work.
4) I'm forced to like it:
Just in general, i don't like to be told what to do. And being told that i have to be all, "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!" on christmas really pisses me off. So i don't like christmas - BFD, leave me the fuck alone. A great example of this occurred while i was writing this very piece in front of my fianc�. She's Catholic - not a religious zealot by any means, but she believes in god. Which is cool. I'm not a religious man myself, but i have nothing against those with faith. But she sees the words hate & christmas together & is immediately pissed & starts yelling at me. What the fuck? It's not just her, though. Mention anything even remotely negative about christmas & the response is usually automatic: "Scrooge!" or "Oh, Bahumbug." Hey, screw you. Have your opinion & let me have mine. I don't chastise anyone for liking christmas (unless they're fanatical about it, in which case i give anyone a hard time for being overly fanatical about almost anything). Just let me be. I don't go out & burn Santa in effigy or beat up carolers or anything. I'm just not all that excited about December 25th. And if you can't deal with that, then get the fuck out of my face & go choke on some eggnog.
|