jerry031

Allow me to be the first to say, if not here than at least in my family, "I hate Christmas." That's right, I do. Don't get me wrong, I'll take the day off, but the false cheer, coupled with the fact that after all is said and done people will go right back to being people, turns my stomache.

It all started innocently enough. The Christian missionaries (mercenaries) couldn't get the pagans to stop celebrating Yule, so they changed the birthdate of the historical figure of Jesus from sometime in the spring to sometime around the winter solstice and called it Christmas. Fast forward a thousand years or so, invent shopping malls, and change that holiday into one of greed, gluttony, and all other manners of excess. Ah, the Christmas season.

Christmas music makes me cringe. Feeling the need to find the "perfect" gift makes me cringe. Receiving gifts makes me cringe. I really don't like having things bought for me. Seeing relatives I haven't seen in ages and having to spend an afternoon with them makes me cringe. There is very little about this time of year that doesn't make me cringe. I think the best thing about the holidays is cranberry sauce.

I can't wait until the middle of January, when everybody goes back to normal and I can resume ignoring the general human populace.

Happy Holidays.