Your right Pete, I do love the family time and time off work. But more annoying than the whole religious thing is the commercial side of the job. 5 weeks from now we will start to be bombarded with Xmas adverts, families being put under pressure to spend money they don't have. Lets face it we are all feeling the pinch, but some people don't cut the cloth accordingly and will end up in serious debt.
The celebration now called Christmas, has been around a lot longer than Christianity, the bastards just hijacked it like they do to everything else. But it is still way to early to be talking about it!!!
Indeed! It was originally a pagan festival to celebrate the turning of winter... Also, from a calendar view, Christmas should be in late October rather than December...o
Nothing like ruining the present by dragging the unpleasant future into it. I'm in full-on summer mode currently. I'll worry about Xmas when I get around to engaging winter mode. Right now it's BBQs, long drinks and swimming pools.
This is the first time I have ever done "spread shopping". I normally can't think of Xmas till after my birthday which is at the beginning of December. But the past few years I've really struggled to think of imaginative presents for people last minute (and I've forgotten stuff I've thought of earlier in the year) and at the end of Jan I'd get a mahoosive credit card bill that would knock me sideways. So this year I thought I'd start early, buy stuff when I'd had a "great idea" for someone, and spread the pain a bit. Seems to be working so far.
I agree, love the summer, hate Christmas, festival of over consumption and complete unrealistic greed.
Yeah 2, 10 & 8, that's why I hate it! It all just seems completely over the top, the presents these days are crazy and we are sucked into all the Christmas bullshit and spend far too much on them. We are lucky, we can afford it, but loads of families end up with unserviceable credit card debt just so they can keep up. It's not really what Christmas should be about.
I agree. But just don't get suckered in. Be more imaginative with your presents. Take your time in thinking about them. Start now rather than panic buying a week before :wink: You'll start to enjoy it then when you see the real joy that you can bring the kids.
I agree ET I'm just a tight miserable fecker! They usually stick me in the kitchen on Christmas Day with a fresh copy of MCN and a large single malt!
Btw I didn't mean to sound patronising. I used to be just like you. Then one day (about 7 years ago) I tried being imaginative and really gave some thought to the presents I bought swmbo, kids and now grandchildren. And I found I enjoyed it. And I got/get huge satisfaction from looking at their faces and seeing them laugh and smile and gasp when they opened their presents :smile: Mind you, new year celebrations I really can't be arsed with :tongue:
My wife and I got married on new years eve because she reckoned it was one of the only dates I wouldn't forget. We had an afternoon reception in the village pub and basically stayed in there from 2pm until gone midnight and it was great fun. We had to give up the function room at 7pm because of an earlier booking so we all migrated to the bar which was heaving by 8pm and I don't think I've ever scored so many free drinks before :biggrin:
i hate christmas..really, really fucking hate it...no, im mean...with a passion..everything about it...the sheer transparency of it...or the religious bullshit....i was in john lewis in september and they already has a rudolph scene in the shop..i fkn ask you...a quarter of the year, wasted on the bullshit build up to this one day of tedium and meaninglessness.... one of other utter hates is shopping....an activity which is at the epicentre of christmas....i dont watch telly...another christmas ritual...i dont really drink either...i fkn hate kids....you see where im going? i hate it even more than i hate football, but at least football is easy to ignore. last few years i went abroad.... fkn hate it...
