Posted by IsoM on December 14, 2002, at 0:41:09
In reply to Bah Humbug!, posted by BekkaH on December 14, 2002, at 0:17:47
I'm not really a bah humbugger - I just happily don't celebrate Christmas, period. Because I can stand back in a semi-detached manner & watch people shopping where I work, I'm amazed at the sense of stress of most shoppers. I have people ask me what they can buy for family; wives asking about husbands, mostly. They're asking ME! Me, who doesn't even have a clue what their husbands are like???
I suppose I'm fairly anti-establishment. I'm struck by the onslaught of blatant consumerism on display around this time. So much unneeded, poorly made, overpriced, & pretty tacky really is pushed on people at this time of year. And many feel they're somehow not nice unless they spend lots of money on people, many that they don't even like!
I look at the toys offered & they rarely entertain or challenge a child for more than a short time. Poinsettias being sold in the garden section where I work are forced & weakly. Bump them & the branches break. Greenery displays in baskets are expensive & anyone can cut some from all the evergreens that grow about here anyway. And how many lights does a house need wrapped around it to outdo the neighbours? Every year, new lighting displays are thought up to make sure people keep buying new types of lights. Rosie O'Donnell screaming out stomach-wrenching Christmas songs blare from the speakers at work. People shove one another to find what they want & then get angry when they hear it's all sold out & no more is ordered. And the amount of rich food to be eaten around Christmas while others in parts of the world are hungry...
Please don't get me wrong. If any one wants to celebrate Christmas & have fun doing so, go ahead. But there seems more every year who are fed up with it but refuse to be different because of family & tradition, yet still gripe about it. I've had some tell me they wish they could quit celebrating it too.
Poor Bekka, I bet you didn't expect a rant like that, did you? I apologise.
poster:IsoM
thread:33328
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20021206/msgs/33329.html