I bust out of work at 4pm and I'm wandering through the city back to my car. The sound of Christmas Carols is blaring from speaker stacks on the side of the road, and the sight of people lining up on the side of WIlliam St on deck-chairs reminds me the god damned Christmas Pageant is on tonight.
I flip my headphones on, and push play on the MP3 and the Dropkick Murphys blots out all other sounds. The city is busy with shoppers, tourists, and folks striving for a vantage point on the side of the road. I'm hearing nothing but the sounds of The Worker's Song when I'm surprised to find myself so detached from this reality in front of me.
The commercialism is rife, large signs proclaiming sales, TV channel sponsored parades, and a beverage company created icon fill my vision. There's the gaudy decorations across the mall the City has spent thousands on, and the people rushing around clutching their wallets. A trendy goth catches my eye. She's quite pretty and I smile. It's returned, and I wander on forward to my car.
It's supposed to be the thought that counts, and I'm thinking about this yearly routine of the almighty dollar, and what it really means. We're looking at a Christian celebration which has found it's way into public acceptance. Or gift giving emulates that of the three kings who wished to win the favour of the latest 'saviour'. At least the cops on the corner seem cheerful.
I'm Catholic. Not a heavily practicing one, but the realisation that this feeling keeps coming year after year is that I abhor Christmas. I hate the feeling of opening a random present from my parents, as they do what is socially accepted. They'll never manage to get something I really like, but I just like being there and seeing them happy. Some guy is washing the windows of a hotel. He's spreading water everywhere.
My sister, Kelly, Mick, Ryan and my other mates, all I want to do is hang out with them and see them happy. My sister's young, so she's well into the presents - I don't blame her.
I get to the parking lot and pay for my day's parking. The lady asks if I have a fifty cent piece. I oblige.
I flip my headphones on, and push play on the MP3 and the Dropkick Murphys blots out all other sounds. The city is busy with shoppers, tourists, and folks striving for a vantage point on the side of the road. I'm hearing nothing but the sounds of The Worker's Song when I'm surprised to find myself so detached from this reality in front of me.
The commercialism is rife, large signs proclaiming sales, TV channel sponsored parades, and a beverage company created icon fill my vision. There's the gaudy decorations across the mall the City has spent thousands on, and the people rushing around clutching their wallets. A trendy goth catches my eye. She's quite pretty and I smile. It's returned, and I wander on forward to my car.
It's supposed to be the thought that counts, and I'm thinking about this yearly routine of the almighty dollar, and what it really means. We're looking at a Christian celebration which has found it's way into public acceptance. Or gift giving emulates that of the three kings who wished to win the favour of the latest 'saviour'. At least the cops on the corner seem cheerful.
I'm Catholic. Not a heavily practicing one, but the realisation that this feeling keeps coming year after year is that I abhor Christmas. I hate the feeling of opening a random present from my parents, as they do what is socially accepted. They'll never manage to get something I really like, but I just like being there and seeing them happy. Some guy is washing the windows of a hotel. He's spreading water everywhere.
My sister, Kelly, Mick, Ryan and my other mates, all I want to do is hang out with them and see them happy. My sister's young, so she's well into the presents - I don't blame her.
I get to the parking lot and pay for my day's parking. The lady asks if I have a fifty cent piece. I oblige.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
yeah christmas, i have mixed feels about thay holiday.
But specifically, the way I view Christmas is the way I buy gifts. I decide what I want for people before ever leaving the house to buy anything. Anytime I don't follow this rule is guaranteed to have me buy something for the sake of buying something, and those gifts almost always suck.
Despite it being socially expected to buy gifts, I always try to get things that the person will remember, that they would've always liked to buy themselves - like something they just never wanted to spoil themselves with or maybe even never realized they wanted (like last year where I bought Cosby tickets for my dad, someone who has listened to Cosby since he was a kid but never even considered seeing him live - and he loved it).
Anyway, it's to each their own, but I find that if you can change the reason why you're buying the gift to something beyond "just because its Christmas" then it usually ends up being something a lot more important.