The worst thing about the holidays

[BurtWorm]

and why they're getting worse and worse every year...

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Boy, what a slanted poll --

deliberatly splitting the anti-O'Reilly vote!!!!

[BurtWorm]

6. I had to justify this being in GD somehow.

;)

[BOSSHOG]

2. Both of my parents are no longer with us

and we had some incredible Christmas's. Mom would bust the bank buying Christmas decorations and she would cook enough food and candy to feed the whole county. We had some wonderful family Christmas'. The worse for me is not having them here anymore. The best is the memories of when they were here.

[LibDemAlways]

9. My father-in-law passed away suddenly and

unexpectedly on Christmas Eve 1998. We called to wish him an early Merry Christmas and the phone was answered by the paramedic who had been summoned by my 16-year-old niece who had called 911 when she stopped by to drop off presents and found her grandpa slumped over in his wheelchair. It was a traumatic experience for everyone. The funeral was New Years Eve.

Christmases have always been a mixture of happiness and sadness since. My father-in-law was a widower who had lost his wife when she was only 40. He was also a polio survivor - contracted during his stint in the Navy in WWII. He loved Christmas morning - a big breakfast followed by a family get together.

I know exactly what you mean when you say that the worst part is not being able to share the holiday with loved ones, and the best part is having memories to hold on to of happier times.

I am blessed to still have both of my parents right nearby. Their 60th wedding anniversary is coming up in January. Spending time with them and enjoying the holidays and family get togethers is a top priority for me.

[CTyankee]

10. You have nice memories. Your folks sound great.

Mine are mixed. Drinking marred some of our Christmases when I was a teen, but I understand that happens more than we let on. It turned several Xmases sour for me...

[Digit]

16. Same here, both parents dead, one got sick just before Christmas

and died shortly afterwards.

Christmas is a difficult time of year for me.

[sandnsea]

29. Both of mine passed too

I was babysitting my grandson today. He's 1 1/2 and was excited about the tree and the decorations and learned how to say Santa. Made me a bit sad because my parents should be here to enjoy Christmas with their great-grandson. :(

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Having to listen to maudlin, sicky sweet Christmas music

I don't mind classical carols, like "Hark the Herald" but "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" sung by Burl Ives makes me ill.

[walldude]

7. Ever heard of The Trans-Siberian Orchestra?

They are a mix of an orchestra and a rock band and they play the most amazing Christmas music you ever heard. You can sample it here: http://www.trans-siberian.com/
Everyone in my family is a huge fan, we are all going to see them live Dec 12th, from grandma down to the young kids.

[BOSSHOG]

39. I have several

"classical christmas" CD's and Celtic Christmas and Nature's Christmas with birds chirping and water babbling behind the music. They are all instrumentals and make excellent background noise at this time of year. We also have an audio recording of a Christmas Carol which goes on first thing Christmas Morning.

[Vox Acerbus]

4. All my loved ones seem to kick it in the first half of December...

:(

Lots of sadness this time of year.

[novalib]

5. The COMMERCIALS!

The COMMERCIALS -- and NOT just the ones that mangle songs.

It's the ones that advertize "The Christmas Sale"

"BUY THIS SO YOUR RELATIVES WILL LOVE YOU"

"NO, SPEND YOUR MONEY ON THIS PIECE OF CRAP MADE BY CHILDREN IN SWEATSHOPS IN ASIA!!"

"GORGE YOURSELF ON HIGH-FAT FOOD!"

"SHOP!!! SHOP!!! BUY!!! BUY!!!"

All those commercials......

PLUS...."It's a Wonderful Life" (Gaia, How I HATE that movie!)

[uppityperson]

8. commercialization, forced festivities.

spend the time being contemplative, with family and friends, forget the stuff, just be.

[TahitiNut]

25. Yes, that ... and SCHEDULED 'generosity'.

I really enjoy giving presents 'out of the blue' ... and not as some ritual where it's a MINIMUM expectation. There's something about such ritualistic 'virtue' that annoys me ... just like the "from" on the gift card (which I often prefer to leave blank).

[T Wolf]

11. The expectation that everything will just be wonderful for everyone.

A 20-year old friend of my daughter died yesterday. How is his family supposed to cope with the rest of the world being so "Merry" when the worst thing that could happen to a parent has just devastated their holiday season? It's hard enough at any time - this must be even worse, if that is possible.

Reminds me of the MASH episode when the docs changed the clock so that "a little girl would not always remember Christmas as the day her daddy died."

How many other young people will needlessly die at this time of year?

Too damn many.

[no_hypocrisy]

12. Dysfunctional family get-togethers. Got one in the making.

Brother and his wife driving up from Virginia. Missed T-day with us. Father assumed that they were doing Xmas with us. Assumed wrong. Brother and his wife driving to Massachusetts to spend Xmas with her family. Love my brother, but my Xmas isn't prospectively ruined by his absence; we're all over 40. Father has nose out of joint about it. Guilt trip express. Did the bit about "disrespecting the family", etc. Added a new element. Father hypothetically asked Brother if our mother were still alive, where would he be spending Xmas? (Quick! Answer w/o thinking!) Apart from that, if Brother were to spend Xmas with us, he would be subjected to being ignored, belittled, or both at this point. At this point, I'm not sure I want to do family Xmas.

[no_hypocrisy]

13. Dupe

[patricia92243]

14. Traffic

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. Bah! Humbug! Scrooge was right.

[AlCzervik]

17. i live 3000 miles away from extended family, i highly recommend this if

it's at all possible. I ignore Blowholes faux war on anything and my kid mostly wants books so holiday time at my house is a very mellow thing, it's actually enjoyable, the husband, child and i watch movies, eat and play whatever new board game Santa left under the tree.

[Quantess]

18. Christmas music polluting public spaces.

It's hard to escape the tedious, overplayed Christmas songs that get played 6 weeks of every year, year after year.

Christmas songs have the dumbest lyrics. I hate "Walking in A Winter Wonderland"'s lyrics. The snowman asks the couple if they are married, and the couple basically tells the snowman, no, we aren't married, but you can do the wedding ceremony next year. I don't care if Annie Lennox covers it, it's still banal.

[magellan]

19. All the god damn cheery Christmas commercials trying to sell us things

AND the way they, like the lights going up around the neighborhood, start earlier and earlier each year.

[AspenRose]

20. Other: Shorter days, getting dark earlier

I hate winter x(

[MISSDem]

21. But come December 21 the days start getting longer so

be glad it's December.

[verse18]

22. I can't stand the deluge of contemporary christmas songs and

holiday traffic. Give me the traditional hymns any day, but if I hear the Temptations "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer," I think I might hurt someone.

Also, I've had the misfortune of living close to and down the street from malls and other shopping centers. I curse a blue-streak as I'm stuck in traffic while I'm trying to go home after work.

[spoony]

23. Other: all the repetitive holiday-bashing threads

Oh and I can't wait for the "I just yelled at my family, pat me on the back" threads afterwards. If it's anything like Thanksgiving, there'll be blood on the dance floor.

[marions ghost]

24. I have to admit that I like

some Xmas lights in winter to help dispel the gloom and get through the short days...

I don't even mind if people get a little gaudy with the lights and decorations--there are few chances to be creative in this culture. It makes them feel good. OK.

But the gorging on consumer items and fighting over toys in stores...:puke: and I hope never to hear
any more patapans in my lifetime.

[blues90]

26. First x-mass without my mother

She passed away at 88 just after mothers day , this will be the first year without our holiday calls and I miss her .

Even though I'm 57 I can't quite seem to get past the fact she is now gone .

I now can't listen to x-mass tunes it's too depressing this year , it just brings back all the years we were all together .

[Raine]

27. Missing people I love

and thinking about passed Christmas'. :-(

[sandnsea]

28. Other: people who hate the holidays n/t

[nam78_two]

30. Other: commercialism, consumerism and

more self-centred behaviour and navel-gazing by Americans x(...
Yeah I know-I am a grump...but this war makes holidays seem obscene...x(

[QMPMom]

31. Expectations. We have little money this year and the expectations

are still so great. I had to tell Dad today that their Christmas presents would have to wait until January. (He said we'd better not send them anything and they understood.) Our DS understands but our DD is mentally handicapped and she will not understand.

It sucks.

[Stuckinthebush]

32. Consumerism, consumerism, consumerism!

The "holidays" are nothing but a big ol' scam to get your money.

I know, I know..I'm cynical. I have seen "It's a wonderful life" and the holidays ain't about that. It's about buying crap for people who really don't need the crap.

Bah.....humbug!

[The Anti-Neo Con]

37. Out-of-control consumerism got my vote too.

I really can't stand the shop-till-you-drop, or the shop till you max out every credit card type of people. Oh well, they are only hurting themselves.

[SoyCat]

41. Absolutely.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

33. The Obligation To Buy Gifts For Your Spouse That You Know They Won't Use Anyway, Cause They Already

have too much crap.

And actually, come to think of it, I can't stand having to open the useless-ain't-gonna-use-it-why-on-earth-did-she-think-I-would-
but-I-have-to-open-it-and-act-surprised-and-excited-as-if-they're-the-best-gifts-in-the-world type gifts either.

[mentalsolstice]

34. We're going to Banff, Canada this year!

We decided to screw the whole dysfunctional family thing this year, and we're going to the Canadian Rockies...just the two of us...and if we really like it, it may become a yearly tradition! We both believe in the baby Jesus AND Santa! But we hate the stinginess that some of our family members exhibit...so we just may turn into a romantic holiday, just us, baby Jesus and Santa, our way. My spouse's employer gives generous time off, so we're "stoopid" if we don't take advantage of it. For instance, this year, he's taking 4 days of leave for 11 days off...we can't beat that, and why spend it with pissy family members?

[Sacajawea]

35. Lucky you, mentalsolstice! That whole area is gorgeous. I was there

a long time ago ('75) and I still think of it as perhaps the most beautiful place I've ever been. But I was there in the latter half of September, not December, and the weather was picture postcard perfect for two weeks (hardly any other people and no bugs). If you are from where your user profile says you're from, I sure hope that you make MAJOR provisions for the weather you may encounter. Perhaps you've been following the current story about the Kim family up in Oregon (?). If not, I strongly suggest that you Google it and take heed! You'll need lots of warm clothes, sturdy boots, etc. And you may not be able to rely on cell phones in the mountains (I know mine wouldn't work recently in northern Montana), so you might want to think about some other type of emergency communicating device (GPS beeper?).

All that being said, I hope you have a glorious holiday. Lake Louise (and its eponymous chateau) are not to be missed! Cheers! :hi:

[QMPMom]

38. Banff is not a wilderness area. It's a huge tourist spot now.

No need to worry about what happened to the Kim family in Banff. I live in Alberta and it's not all sod huts and morse code. We actually have telephones that work (cell phones, too), indoor plumbing and you won't find an igloo in sight. There are restaurants and grocery stores along with 5 star hotels. Cripes, there are freeways leading in and out of Banff!

[mentalsolstice]

40. We've been stocking up

We've got snow pants, parkas, fleece and silk underwear, Columbia snow boots, etc. We won't have a car the whole time, but we'll have a rental for a couple of days...and I've thought of the Kims just as you have. Thanks for the heads up!

[Tyo]

36. What isn't bad about the holidays?

We were hoping to go to Japan this year where at worst it's Christmas Lite and the 25th is not a holiday but family issues forced us to move our trip up, so not only are we stuck here for Christmas and New Years, but we MISSED THANKSGIVING because we were in Tokyo and we love Thanksgiving. This year has just been all screwed up. x( If there really is a war on Christmas it's not being fought where we live. How do we get some troops over here?