[Das Boot]

Just wanting to know if I'm all alone in this or not. I really have a dislike for the time between Thanksgiving and New Years. The only bright spot for me is going to be watching my two year old son open his gifts X-Mas morning other than that - if I could build a time machine and jump straight into January I would.

-Brian

[X Man]

Brian,

You aren't alone. I can't stand it either. I know it's not a popular position to take but I couldn't agree with you more. The crazy spending, the "Black Friday" thing, where people drive around all day and wait in line for hours to save a few bucks. It goes on and on.... Today, a Wal-Mart employeee was trampled to death by hundreds of "black friday" shoppers on Long Island, NY. Merry Chistmas.

Regards,
Mike

[Mark2100]

I see some people don't believe in Santa...
Let me share a story...

Not so long ago... eleven years this Christmas eve, a miracle happened. Or, it was one of the strangest coincidences I've ever been part of. I do believe in Santa.

It all started in a class I was taking to finish my degree at a local Vo-tech through the local community collage. My wife had left my one year old son and I to pursue her addiction, and I was attending school on Pell grants, student loans, and part-time jobs. Of course I also had to move back in with my mom.

A month or so before Christmas that year, our instructor had retired for reasons I can't remember, and was replaced by a young man named Mr. Arnold. He had two young boys, and being a casual classroom, our conversations sometimes centered around our children. Mr. Arnold had told me his five year old had asked Santa for a Hotwheels set called Volcano Blowout, and he had been unable to find one.

Well, a person has to have a hobby, and there's not a much cheaper hobby than collecting one dollar Hotwheels. Just to get away for a little while, sometimes I would leave the house in the middle of the night and go to Wally World while they were stocking, trying to find that rare car. I told Mr. Arnold this, and if I saw a Volcano Blowout I would buy it for him.

Christmas Eve around one in the morning. I'm at Wally World, and I see a case of Volcano Blowouts being shelved. I buy one and sleep well thinking I'm going to make a young boy happy.

I wake up the next morning and get out the phone book so I can call Mr. Arnold to tell him the good news. But he's not in the phone book, he's just moved here. I call information, but they don't have his listing either. I'm now bumming out.

Around noon Christmas Eve, my mom comes home from work, where she's an office manager for a dentist, and sees me sitting at the table.. bummed. She asked me what was wrong, so I told her my story.

She said, "That's funny, I overheard a little boy tell the assistant today that Santa was going to bring him a Volcano Blowout for Christmas... and his last name was Arnold..."

Now I don't live in a small town. The Oklahoma City metro area has over a half a million people, my mom is half deaf, and not many dentist are open on Christmas Eve. My mom did drive back to her office and got the phone number, and by five that evening Mr. Arnold had the present in his hands.

I'm sure stranger things have happend. But I do know a little boy got what he wanted that year, and I'll always believe in Santa Claus.

[reeftool]

I think your poll needs another choice like "I don't like what the season has become". I really don't like the holiday season anymore other than brief time that the family all gets together. The lights and decorations are pretty and provide some photo ops but all the constant pressure to buy,buy,buy has turned this holiday into a time of misery. What was intended to be a religious holiday for Christians has turned into a money orgy. Many have complained about this for years but it gets worse every year. While the Christian expression of the season gets banned in many places, the same politicians that want to ban the religious expression beg for looser credit and plead with the public to spend their money to save the precious ecomomy that they screwed up. I'm staying home for the most part today. Being it is my day off, I will need to get some grocerys but i'm waiting until evening. I don't want to get trampled and there are still plenty of Thanksgiving leftovers.

[Eaglerapids]

I believe in Santa, always have. When I was a little kid Santa came by our house one Christmas Eve and visited my brother and I. He really is a cool guy.
Great story Mark2100.

[Tom S.]

I greatly dislike what it has become, which is basically nothing more than a 6 week long commercial.

[Leaf Fan]

I've been very fortunate to be married to a wonderful woman for the past 10 years and we've been together for 19 years. About 6-7 years ago we fell into that same "what has Christmas become?" apathy, where it was all about spending and gifts rather than what it should be. Then our first daughter came along and put EVERYTHING in perspective for us. Many of our friends were having kids too and we all commiserated about how commercial Christmas had become. We all decided then and there we would get together as many times as we could through Thanksgiving (in Canada it's a little earlier) right to new years and we wouldn't buy presents as it was getting nuts (I'd have to take 7 bottles of wine to our party and I'd come home with 7 - what was the point. Now we just bring wine and enjoy it with each other's company).

Christmas has now taken on a whole new life and meaning, our kids are getting to that age when they're understanding and we're teaching them it's not about gifts.

This is the best season of the year if you can see it for what it is not what the marketing companies have made it.

Enjoy your holidays, have a Merry Christmas, and from my family to yours we wish you all the best for the new year.

[roentarre]

Time to do shopping ! Except this is a window shopping season for me

[Clicker]

I love this time of year; lots of people watching, i usually donate to the bubble stands, Toy drop offs and food bins in each mall i hit and every time, the donations need not be big ( i don't want to be collecting myself ) Having never really celebrated anything and growing up with poverty around me, i've always been more of a giver than a taker. This is something i think my mom passed on to her kids, i only have nephews and they got a lot when they were younger but as they're in their teens now, they get what they need and maybe a little extra and somehow they've become givers rather than takers as they volunteer during the year to help out at these events.

Yes, i enjoy both the commercial and spiritual meeting of this season without one the other wouldn't exist in these modern times.

[baltochef920]

The so-called Christmas holidays has not been a time of the year that I have liked since I was 13-14 years old..I am now 54..

It gets crammed down a person's throat whether they are Christian, or not..Over the past 30 years it has become increasingly commercial to the point that celebrating Christ's birth (which if I recall correctly is NOT December 25) now plays a very minor role compared to Santa Claus & gift giving..

Ten years ago a local easy listening radio station (one of the major players in the Baltimore market) started playing Christmas music two weeks before Dec 25..Perhaps one song in five would be Christmas music..They did not start playing Christmas music exclusively until late in the evening on Dec 24..They would play only Christmas music all day Dec 25..At midnight Dec 26 they then switched over to their regular easy listening program of music..

Starting approximately 5 years ago this station started playing Christmas music earlier & earlier into December, with the music occupying a greater & greater proportion of the daily selections..By the week before Christmas you were lucky to hear one song in 5 that was not a Christmas song..By 2-3 days before Christmas virtually the entire program had become Christmas music..And, they started to play Christmas music AFTER Christmas Day for several days..

Three years ago this station started playing what they now started terming Holiday music on Thanksgiving Day for the entire day..Following Thanksgiving they reverted back to their regular program of music until approximately two weeks before Christmas where the selection each succeeding day was to play more & more Holiday music, with fewer non-holiday songs..With the pattern mimicking what I described in the preceding paragraph..

Last season this station started playing Holiday music several days before Thanksgiving Day, all day on Thanksgiving, & between Thanksgiving Day & Christmas Day at least 50% of all songs, round-the-clock, were Holiday music..By the week before Christmas it was 100% Holiday music..After Christmas Day last year 75% of the music was this Holiday Music up until New Years Eve..Starting at 6:00 P.M. on New Years Eve it was 100% Holiday music until 6:00 A.M. on Jan 2..

This year they started advertising their so-called great program of Holiday Music a MONTH before Thanksgiving, approximately a day or two after Halloween..On November 18, 2008 this station switched over to 100% round-the-clock Holiday music..No live DJ's except for several breaks each hour for weather & traffic..So now this major market easy listening radio station is transmitting 100% Christmas / Holiday music for 45 straight days..

They claim that they are doing this because THEIR LISTENERS have demanded it..I say that that is bulls**t..They are doing this because THIS IS WHAT THEIR ADVERTISERS WANT!!!!..Especially in a year like this one where the economy sucks, the corporations & local businesses purchasing air time want to try & put people in the HOLIDAY MOOD to spend money..If radio stations such as this one inundate the airwaves with holiday music, then hopefully people will spend money that they might not otherwise..People associate Christmas / Holiday music with better, happier times & this is supposed to make people loosen up their purse strings..

I guess it allows the station to let the DJ's go on vacation as none of them will be on-air until Jan 2, 2009..

Mini rant over!!..

Bruce

[Nesster]

I'm born on the Solstice, my daughter on Christmas Day... oh and our wedding is two days before my birthday. So yeah, I kind of like the season. I like the tree. I like decorating the tree, and having daughter laugh at me for cursing about the lights. I like the weather, I like that it stars getting lighter again. I like cooking the holiday meals.

The rest of that crap, makes for good photos in the ironical but at face value sort of vein.

[MRRiley]

I hate the shopping and the commercialism... but I love the extra time off and the chance to spend it with my kids (26 y/o son and 23 y/o daughter).

[frogger]

Maybe its just that it bugs me more as I get older, but it does seem to getting more about retail sales than anything else a little more every year. In uncertain times like these, it disturbs me that people are still out buying gifts for people that they don't need in the least rather than being cautious.

[stewart_photo]

(snip) Today, a Wal-Mart employeee was trampled to death by hundreds of "black friday" shoppers on Long Island, NY. (snip)

Now there is talk of criminally prosecuting those who trampled the Wal-Mart employee, like they had any control whatsoever with 2000 people pushing from behind. Employees criticized the roughly 2000 customers, but large numbers eager to buy is exactly the response Wal-Mart wanted. In my opinion, Wal-mart, who spent weeks promoting this sale, should be charged with inciting a riot.

stewart

[stewart_photo]

The so-called Christmas holidays has not been a time of the year that I have liked since I was 13-14 years old..I am now 54.. (snip)

Wow. As the saying goes, you really need to get over it. And what do you mean "so-called" Christmas holidays? It is the Christmas holiday, an official federal & state holiday in the USA. It's also a holiday celebrated world-wide by billions. To deny all that requires a huge mental jump from reality.

(snip) celebrating Christ's birth (which if I recall correctly is NOT December 25) now plays (snip)

Christmas is the day Christ's birth is celebrated, not his actual birthday. The day simply represents the day Jesus was born since the exact day is impossible to reliably determine.

stewart



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