Bah, humbug!

It's getting that I absolutely loathe Christmas-time. I'm not Scrooge. I just think people should do things because it's the right thing to do, not because it's a 'holiday tradition'.

Things I hate about the holiday season

• The sudden surge is charitable giving associated with 'the holiday spirit'
• Secret Santas, family gift exchanging, and every form of 'obligatory giving'
• Mall Santas (or whatever place you drag your kid to for photos and wish lists)
• The spoiled rotten children who receive piles of presents
• The spoiled rotten adults who are even worse than the children because they're old enough to be held accountable for their actions
• The ridiculous consumerist bullsh*t of it all

Don't get me wrong. I see absolutely nothing wrong with giving presents to show you care. If I want to give you a present, I give you a present. It has nothing to do with the day on the calendar or someone being born 2000 odd years ago. Same goes for giving to charity. I have a problem with people doing these in the name of "Christmas". And it's even worse when they have the gall to do it while calling this a religious holiday. Guess what? Protestants had Santa Claus in Sunday School before they started bothering with the Nativity. Catholics always had it on the schedule, but they used it to help convert followers used to various 'pagan' solstice festivals. So basically, we've got three totally separate types of 'holidays' all being jumbled into one:

1. The solstice festivals that go way back, and frankly have a much better excuse for existing. The fact that days start getting longer again instead of plunging us into eternal night is actually quite important.
2. The 'Christ Mass' that is a truly Holy day in the Catholic tradition. Even if the exact choice of day is unrelated to the event being celebrated.
3. The Santa Claus x-mas that worships at the alter of consumerism.

If you want to celebrate more than one of the above holidays, go for it, but understand they're three totally separate things. So please, just realize if you're sitting around a Christmas tree giving presents in the name of Jesus, you're being a big ol' hypocrite. A true Christian wouldn't just care about his fellow man each December. And he certainly wouldn't run up credit card debt to buy unnecessary junk for his bratty children. You have the right to be a consumerist a**. And I have the right to call you on it.

A social obligation to exchange presents each year on a particular date is silly at best. Worse still is the shear quantity of crap that is exchanged. Sure, I grew up looking forward to Christmas presents under the tree each year. But we didn't get a list a mile long. And none of it was big. Even when I got older and we had more money, we never gave that many presents. And I would have been perfectly happy getting even less than I did get. Generally speaking, I think we should all be giving each other a whole lot less stuff. Why? So we'll have a whole lot less stuff! No one appreciates anything if they've got piles of junk they never use lying around. It takes up space and makes you think you need a bigger house. So not only have you wasted money on crap that isn't being used, you'll end up wasting even more money getting a bigger place to live. It's all bad for your pocket books and the environment. And it gets worse with each generation. You ought to use the money for something that's actually useful, like retirement savings or education. And that's true all 12 months of the year!

Now, the charitable giving has me torn. I strongly feel people should be giving away more to charity (the cause is your choice). And they should be doing it all year long, not just wasting those charitable dollars on creating a fantasy consumerist X-mas for someone 'in need'. No one, I repeat, none one 'needs' Christmas. But they do need a lot of other things. Food. Jobs. Education. Assistance and direction to help them provide for themselves. If you'd like to give a pile of Wiis to the children's hospital, go ahead and do it. Just not because it's Christmas. If a gift is worth giving, it's worth giving at any time of the year. If you're only giving because 'til the season', well, you're not doing it for the right reasons. That's no better than giving for the tax break. But, well, I'd still rather people were giving to charity, for any reason, than spending it on more junk for themselves or their children.

And don't even get me started on the wastefulness of most Christmas cards...

Despite this frustrated rant, there are a few parts of the holiday season that I do enjoy. None of which I'll get this year here in China (ok, there's a small chance at #1 at a foreign consulate).

Things I love about the holiday season

1. Candle-light Christmas Eve services. I can no longer identify myself as Christian, but as a singer I absolutely adore Christmas Cantatas. And I think singing as a group is good for everyone... even if it's just christmas carols.
2. Office holiday parties. Even when they're done cheaply, it's important to have a fun event with your co-workers at least once a year. But it's still silly that this is associated with Christmas!
3. The rare individuals who cross the bridge between holiday giving and real altruism. Now that's a Christmas miracle.
4. After-Christmas sales. I'm not Scrooge, but it can pay to be a cheapskate. There are some things you really do need. So you might as well buy them on sale.