Seasonal thoughts
I'm not a fan of Christmas. Being truthful I rather try to avoid much of it. I'm not religious so the worship part is out. But equally I like to respect people's beliefs so the commericality of the Festive Season I find crass. I also am teetotal so the drink 'til you feel sick aspect escapes me.
All in all, I have to admit to being a little bit of a "Bah Humbug!" Scrooge-like figure about the whole thing. For anyone that knows me this is not news. But I wouldn't dream of stopping anyone enjoying the season in whatever way they enjoy. Okay I might moan a little about it from time to time. I'm rather good at moaning, after all I am English, but being truthful I would never try to sway anyone's individual beliefs and practices.
But it does depress me when I hear about children - seven, eight, nine years old or something like that - wanting a new bike, an iPod, a Playstation (or whatever the latest games platform is these days), a this, a that and a "the-other" - and wanting all of them.
I know I liked presents as a child. Hell, if I'm honest I rather like them now. It's just I'd rather have them as surprises, at random times, than as expected items on a day specified by the conventions of society. (Book tokens, or Amazon vouchers being a particular favourite of mine as it gives me the chance to receive a gift and go shopping for books.) And, no I didn't get any presents this morning.
Christmas for me has lost its magic. Somewhere amongst the metres-high piles of gaudily wrapped, New Year's Day dustbin fillers it kind of got misplaced.
...
I just re-read the first part of this post. God, I sound depressed. I'm not. Don't feel you need to hide anything sharp. Writing this so far has already brightened my mood - even of that has come at the expense of darkening yours. I apologise for that. I had started this wanting to wish anyone strange enough to read the posts I type a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah or Joyful Yule or whatever you celebrate (and I know the timing is completely wrong for anyone Muslim, Sikh or Hindu).
It just kind of got way from me.
Hmmh! I think I'd better stop.
There is one good thing about Christmas though - the Doctor Who special was on earlier and I thoroughly enjoyed that. Missed the Queen's speech earlier though (or should that count as two good things about the day).
All in all, I have to admit to being a little bit of a "Bah Humbug!" Scrooge-like figure about the whole thing. For anyone that knows me this is not news. But I wouldn't dream of stopping anyone enjoying the season in whatever way they enjoy. Okay I might moan a little about it from time to time. I'm rather good at moaning, after all I am English, but being truthful I would never try to sway anyone's individual beliefs and practices.
But it does depress me when I hear about children - seven, eight, nine years old or something like that - wanting a new bike, an iPod, a Playstation (or whatever the latest games platform is these days), a this, a that and a "the-other" - and wanting all of them.
I know I liked presents as a child. Hell, if I'm honest I rather like them now. It's just I'd rather have them as surprises, at random times, than as expected items on a day specified by the conventions of society. (Book tokens, or Amazon vouchers being a particular favourite of mine as it gives me the chance to receive a gift and go shopping for books.) And, no I didn't get any presents this morning.
Christmas for me has lost its magic. Somewhere amongst the metres-high piles of gaudily wrapped, New Year's Day dustbin fillers it kind of got misplaced.
...
I just re-read the first part of this post. God, I sound depressed. I'm not. Don't feel you need to hide anything sharp. Writing this so far has already brightened my mood - even of that has come at the expense of darkening yours. I apologise for that. I had started this wanting to wish anyone strange enough to read the posts I type a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah or Joyful Yule or whatever you celebrate (and I know the timing is completely wrong for anyone Muslim, Sikh or Hindu).
It just kind of got way from me.
Hmmh! I think I'd better stop.
There is one good thing about Christmas though - the Doctor Who special was on earlier and I thoroughly enjoyed that. Missed the Queen's speech earlier though (or should that count as two good things about the day).
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