Holiday Season - Ick!

I have decided that I really don't like the Holiday season. Since I've had the shop, it is a season of long days, extra work days, deadlines and general intensity that I really could do without. I used to love the holidays. I would take the bus to downtown and wander through the shops, trying the find the perfect gifts for each person with my very restricted budget. I would look at the lights, hear the holiday carols, hear the hand bells for the Salvation Army red buckets, and generally I would be in high spirits. Sometimes I would treat myself to a lunch or a dessert, sometimes I would go at night and skate on the rink that was next to the May D&F downtown store. On rare occasions my folks and I would pile into the car and become one of hundreds driving by the City and County Building to look at the holiday displays and the lights.

All of that has ended now. Not just because of my really icky work schedule, but also because of people in government being unable to have holiday displays any more for fear of alienating some segment of their population. No, no manger scenes, no lights, no animation. Instead, the holidays are becoming a mandatory shopping time, a time to score sales, and a completely sterile time of the year with money quickly becoming the only diety. Now, I'm not a Christian person, but I still loved seeing the displays and hearing the music. Christmas was a time for those who were Christian to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It was great for them. They were happy, and I didn't have a problem with the celebration because they represented the dominent religion in the country, as well as the religion of the Founding Fathers (and Mothers). But with the watering down of Christmas, the joy has also gone out of the holiday, leaving it sterile and lacking meaning. I think it is a shame, and even if I don't believe in the Christian doctrine, I think that the celebration was wondrous and led to great childhood memories.