December 25, 2012

  • The Christmas Excuse

       For every regular/occasional reader of this blog, it should be no secret by now that I don't celebrate Christmas. I didn't even celebrate it when I was a Christian, for reasons mentioned back in 2005. Though this year and last have temporarily halted my personal abstention from observing the "holiday" - with last year's being my last with my mother and this year's being the first to follow her passing -, I am still not blind to the perverse nature of this day. Especially since I started working in retail in October, I have been able to witness it all first hand.

     

       What could I mean by "perverse nature"? Hmm, well let's consider the fact that many - though, not all - Christmas observers take it upon themselves to become charitable on this one special day a year. Yes, to them, it's okay to treat everyone like scum until December 25th rolls around. Then, for the sake of "tradition", millions of assholes the world around get to bask in the light of praise because they were nice for that one day. Is it just me, or is this the same as having an excuse?

     

       For one day in the year, people smile and wish everyone they see a "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year". A month later, on January 25th, you would be lucky to have such a cheerful conversation and exchange of well wishes. Standing behind the cash register can be a miserable place for anyone, and one reason is that you get to see this double standard in life first-hand. Every day, - regardless of the day, week, or month - I tell every one of my customers to "have a nice day". In addition, I try to make sure that they see me smile. But, my politeness doesn't end when I clock out. Instead, I'm often the first one to say "have a nice day" when I'm on the other end of the register! Why, oh why, is it so terrible that society makes the tradition of charity and politeness observed during December an everyday thing?!!

     

       As mentioned before, I discussed in 2005 the pagan origins of Christmas. As part of those origins, the Romans used to observe a tradition called "Saturnalia" in honor of the god Saturn. On that day, observed at some point around the Winter Solstice, society suspended its normal day-to-day reality. Peasants suddenly enjoyed riches while the rich had to live as peasants. How is going from acting like a jerk one day to saying "Merry Christmas" during this same time of year any different? If you ask me, Christmas is a license for society to not change for the better. Sure, we will discuss - at the time - how the world needs to be like this all of the time, but such talk seems to slip away as the New Year draws nearer.

     

       Another mind-boggling example of this holiday's perverse nature took place in the midst of the Great War (also known as "World War One"). At one point, the gruesome, bloody trench war only ceased when the two sides laid their weapons down and joined together to celebrate Christmas. WHAT THE FUCK?!!! Don't feed me that bullshit that world peace and unity aren't possible when two warring sides can stop fighting in one of humanity's bloodiest conflicts long enough to sing a few carols together! Change is possible, but we have to want it bad enough. Problem is, too many out-dated traditions like Christmas stand in the way of true progress, because they allow us to claim that we are doing good "when it counts".

     

       Being a greedy bastard on every day but Christmas doesn't make you a "good guy". HELL NO, instead it makes you two-faced greedy bastard! Do you think that giving money, food, treatment, or a warm place to sleep to a homeless person on Christmas is any better than doing so on any other day? Of course not, which is EXACTLY why reserving such behavior and interaction with your fellow human being is so perverse! The problems that you temporarily acknowledge on this day will be here waiting and pleading for attention the rest of the year.

     

    Tonight's Conclusion

     

       If you are going to take anything away from this entry today, I hope it will be that the "Christmas Excuse" is bogus. Care for your loved ones and neighbors every day, not just when the eyes of society are expecting such behavior on a particular day. Humanity is better than this, and the key to realizing such is to remove the blinders that tradition has placed in front of us for a long time now.

     

    Until next time...

     

    TAKE CARE