[evilmink269]

I hate Giftmas, I hate mall traffic, I hate when people fist fight over a parking space, I hate whiney kids who beg for toys they'll forget a day after the holidays. Am I the only Scrooge around this joint?

I used to love Christmas, now I despise it. :flame: I can't get into the spirit to save my ass this year. :808876-nono: My son will have as always a faboo day but I'm feeling a bit Scrooge-sque lately /wwwthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif


Hey Fuzzy can ya pick me up some? Your lovely tree/snow pics lately have boosted my enthusiasm some but not completely :help:

 

[PorradaVFR]

I *understand* your perspective, but I also want it to be a good one because it is the first one with my new wife in our new home, in a new state and there's just us here.

That said, I've not bought anything yet, dread the malls and pretty much have NO idea what to get her.

Panic yet? :wink:

 

[SpikedLemon]

I shop and get gifts because it's expected.
I don't expect gifts either.

Really; it's just a hastle that's best left for parents and their kids. Or husband/wife as an excuse to do something sweet for the other (because Valentine's isn't the best time to buy roses)

But I'm really sick of the commercialism and the muzak. GAWD!!! Can at least the radio stations avoid it?? PLEASE!?!?!

 

[wingswheels]

its the most bastardized holiday

interesting going to a store, and seeing all the crap they have on sale, 15 dollars marked down from 59.99, you know it was only worth 12 in the first place and they are still making a profit on the crap made in china :flame:

 

[SpikedLemon]

[ QUOTE ]
wingswheels said:
interesting going to a store, and seeing all the crap they have on sale, 15 dollars marked down from 59.99, you know it was only worth 12 in the first place and they are still making a profit on the crap made in china :flame:

[/ QUOTE ]

I picked up a 235 peice Dremel tool-kit for myself today. It was marked down from $80 to $30.
I've been doing a lot of that over the holidays... some good deals abound if you dare to enter the store. Sadly; what people want are never on sale. :frown:

 

[novos]

screw christmas!!!

 

[GSRider]

I like Christmas as a whole. I hate the traffic, stupid people, long line ups at the checkout, etc etc etc. But I do like shopping for family and friends (Don't worry, Spiked, I didn't get you anything, so don't feel obliged :smile for one day out of the year just for me to basically say that I do care about them (Birthdays and other observed holidays notwithstanding).

So what do I do? Get all the shopping done before December 1st. Works wonders, I tell you. You still have a festive outlook, without the annoying aspects of it all :smile:

 

[Guest]

I hate the carols that are re-sung every year. The same old songs and f-in rudolph the boogie nosed reindear movie EVERY YEAR! Only thing i like about Christmas is the gifts that i get.

 

[the_journeyman]

Glad to see you back Mink! I gave traffic the finger this year & used the internet a lot! However, I still have to drive my mom around in the traffic which really sucks. Appearantly the front of her car is about 30 feet long from the passenger seat. She gets a little apprehensive riding with me. Oh well, So much for sanity ~

JM

 

[LabRodent]

I dont hate Christmas, I hate HANUKKAH!!!!!! HA!!! :tongue:

 

[evander]

Commercialism? What on earth are you talking about? You don’t mean the stores getting their holiday displays out before Halloween do you? Yes I was in two stores back in October and they had their Christmas stuff up.

I hate crowds anytime of the year. I do most of my shopping in October during the middle of the week. No “special holiday sales” but no hassle / people either.

I hate getting gifts. I don’t “want or need” anything and I seem to be very tough to shop for. So people tend to get me crap because they feel obligated due to the season.

I do love giving gifts. Like I said, I start shopping in October and I put a lot of thought and time into the gifts. I give them because I like too. The season is the reason.


I love Halloween. Not too commercial and a great reason to scare the crap out of people.

 

[Tickle]

I love Christmas because of the lights... & the decorations... & the time off work... & getting together with family & friends.

For me the commercialism is the only thing that spoils it. I hate the frantic running around and all the stress involved so I do what GS does and avoid it all by getting the Crimbo shopping done before December even starts!!!

My immediate family and I don't give lavish gifts...we just get a token item for eachother so that there's something to unwrap on the day and put under the tree, but that's it, and it seems to take a lot of the pressure off...I'm not sure why. /wwwthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif...maybe it's because they don't ask for something specific that's nearly impossible to get...or maybe it's because I don't get my bank manager snapping at my heels anymore!!! :crazy:

I DO like to put a lot of thought into what I give and I hate it when I get it wrong, but thankfully that doesn't happen too often (knock on wood)...there's nothing better than getting something for someone just because you saw it and thought "Wow! So-and-so would LOVE that..." and then watching them unwrap it and their face light up with pure unexpected delight...while I hold my breath and pray that I was right!! :crazy:

 

[the_journeyman]

Oh yea, I forgot to mention. Wal-Mart here in town had the 8-foot inflatable snowman & the 6-foot inflatable Santa & the 3-foot singing figures for your porch on display two weeks before Halloween! That is completely ridiculous.

JM

 

[fuzzygalore]

Christmas is what you personally make of it for you and your loved ones. Why do any of you really care what anyone else is trying to shove your way if you don't buy in to it?

Enjoy your holiday your own way. If you don't like shopping and crowds and Christmas decos up before Thanksgiving, don't go to the mall. If you don't like Christmas carols, change the station.

It seems to have become more fashionable to 'hate' Christmas and its commercial overtones than it is to go back to the roots of Christmas as the religious holiday. If you don't like where the idea has gone, protest quietly by not buying/shopping and all of that jazz and just go to church. :smile: See ya there. And if you don't believe in the religious aspect of Christmas, well then, its really just a commercial holiday for you anyway, isn't it?

I on the other hand will be shopping (it's helping the ecomony grow, it's a public service :smirk, I will continue to sing and play christmas carols ad nauseum and will keep my 10 foot inflatable snowman going on the front lawn until after New Years.

I buy and give gifts because it makes me happy. I am not obliged to do any damn thing i don't feel like doing. I love the toil of the holidays. It's a labor of love for me.
:waytogo:

 

[fuzzygalore]

Oh.. and before I forget...

Anyone who is hating Christmas and gift giving, if you check your local phonebook, there are plenty of shelters and orphanges that would gladly accept the donation of all of the wrapped gifts you receive. I believe they are even open on Christmas Day! :smirk:

 

[F4iHigh]

[ QUOTE ]
fuzzygalore said:
Christmas is what you personally make of it for you and your loved ones. Why do any of you really care what anyone else is trying to shove your way if you don't buy in to it?

Enjoy your holiday your own way. If you don't like shopping and crowds and Christmas decos up before Thanksgiving, don't go to the mall. If you don't like Christmas carols, change the station.

It seems to have become more fashionable to 'hate' Christmas and its commercial overtones than it is to go back to the roots of Christmas as the religious holiday. If you don't like where the idea has gone, protest quietly by not buying/shopping and all of that jazz and just go to church. :smile: See ya there. And if you don't believe in the religious aspect of Christmas, well then, its really just a commercial holiday for you anyway, isn't it?

I on the other hand will be shopping (it's helping the ecomony grow, it's a public service :smirk, I will continue to sing and play christmas carols ad nauseum and will keep my 10 foot inflatable snowman going on the front lawn until after New Years.

I buy and give gifts because it makes me happy. I am not obliged to do any damn thing i don't feel like doing. I love the toil of the holidays. It's a labor of love for me.
:waytogo:

[/ QUOTE ]

my sentiments exactly. I like buying people gifts. Last year my wife and I were broke because we just bought a house and were going to Italy in Feb. We didnt really get each other anything crazy at all. This year I want to buy some nice gifts. Yeah I can do it anyday, but doing it for Xmas is more fun, plus it breaks up the winter. I enjoy seeing decorations on houses & buildings. Some things annoy me, like seeing Xmas stuff up in October, but overall i really like the Christmas season.

 

[redhurricane]

I'd say I agree with the latter of the comments, I think it IS what you make of it. I hate the malls just about any time of year, why is December any different other than volume? I have two girls, 12 and 6. They are the reason I do what I do around this time of year. Commercialized? You bet. Still important in playing a role towards a healthy childhood? I believe so. Now don't get me wrong, getting the newest, hottest, coolest most expensive thing every year is not what I am talking about. Last year was a small Christmas for my kids. The economy was still pretty flat, so they got some small things and some clothes.

This year, well......lets just say that the metals industry has recovered pretty well from a 3 year recession.

This year my girls are each getting brand new dirt bikes. A CRF70 and a CRF50. Overboard, hell yes. Will it end up in the bottom of the toybox in 6 months? No way. Does it allow us to go play as a family? You betcha!!!!!


To top this off, we made a large donation of money and toys to a local orphanage for those that don't have what others take for granted, and the kid's toybox has been gutted (I make them do this) and the excess taken to Goodwill and Salvation Army drop locations.


What I would also like to say is this:

For everyone here and around the world, make the holiday season what you would like it to be. Say hi to people, stop cutting off others on the freeway (I witnessed 2 knobs trying to kill each other at 70mph the other day), give something rather than expect or take. Last year Christmas eve day I got a call from friends that went for a ride through Palomar that one of the people riding lowsided. I scooped up my kids and spent the next 6 or 7 hours driving to them, picking up the bike and rider and delivering them to their home. My kids didn't have the greatest of times doing this, but they understood that someone else needed the time more than we did.


Pay it forward. The life you save someday may be your own.

With that said, Happy Holidays to everyone!!!!

 

[evilmink269]

I didn't mean for my post to start a firestorm of Christmas bashing. *I* just am *personally* finding it difficult this year to *get in the spirit of the season* I enjoy watching my son get a huge kick out of this Christmas because he still believes in Santa and can't wait till Christmas morning to live vicariously thru him. He is the only family I have in California and so I am doing this because of him and his joy. It's just as I sit back and observe that (most) *not all* people do this holiday madness because they feel *obligated* to do so. It was the whole two grown men fist fighting thing over a parking space that threw me over the top. I mean for crimney sake getting that worked up for just the purpose of one day? What ever happened to Peace on Earth and Goodwill Towards Men? It just boggles my mind.

I really started to feel better when I saw how beautiful Fuzzy's tree and yard were and it made me reminisce of when I *used to have the spirit* /wwwthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif :bawling:

 

[redhurricane]

No worries, Mink. It's what YOU make of it. AZZhats are everywhere, the stress of the holidays sometimes brings them out of the woodwork.

Take a ton of pictures of your son, the memory will fade of specific days. Personally I am collecting pictures of all the holiday events and the looks on their faces to remind me of their innocence.

Hell, if I am lucky maybe my kids won't end up serial killers.

As for the people that can't control themselves in a civilized manner, keep a can of that aerosol tree flocking in your car. It really pisses them off when you spray them with it. :laugh:

 

[TravellinJones]

Why does it have to be Christmas to give a gift?

What I find sad are the people who say the consumerism is wrong, but they do it anyway, "for the children".

"Stealing is wrong, but I do it for the children."

"Rape is wrong, but I do it for the children."

"Genocide is wrong, but I do it for the children."

And most heinous of all,
"Riding a Hardley-Ableson is wrong, but I do it for the children." :crazy: