St. Nick is DEAD

nuffingman

Ms. Haiku wrote:

The best gift I received was a took kit in 1990 with baby blue handles on the tools. On the case was etched "Toolkit for her." Those tools will never end up lost.

What a wonderful world it would be if everyone was as contented as you.

Heineken Helen

audiodave wrote:

There's not an ounce of what most people would call religion in me. There are a lot of things that I believe in very strongly, but they are very personal to me.

I agree that we should embrace the things we do at Christmas all year round. I try to. Being good to other people, giving, togetherness...whatever! If I want to buy someone a gift, then there doesn't need to be an occasion. I do spend time with my family a lot, whenever I can, but it's usually only with parts of it. It's very rare we're all in the same place, so that's why Christmas is important to me.

yeh, I love buying random gifts for people... if I see something I think someone would I like, I get it and give it to them and it's always cool seeing the reaction.

I don't think wanting to go to mass on Christmas eve is even so much about the religion for me... more about sharing the love BEYOND your family. We used to go to christmas eve mass every year and it was sooooo beautiful, especially if there was snow. ALL the families getting together and talking to all your friends afterwards and pretty much everyone and just saying 'happy christmas' as you head home to cut the first slices of turkey for hot turkey sandwiches and then off to bed in your brand new pj's

Ms. Haiku

nuffingman wrote:

What a wonderful world it would be if everyone was as contented as you.

*blush* Thanks!

You want to know content?! It's all about lying on the floor and just staring at the ceiling fan go around and around and around. Now, there's contentment for ya! (I know this personally )

Heineken Helen

nuffingman wrote:

What a wonderful world it would be if everyone was as contented as you.

:eek: I got my sister a pink tool box for Christmas last year. I thought there was pink tools in it though which would have been even better but unfortunately ya had to buy them separately... I shoulda realised it was pretty light :rolleyes:

And she loved it

Urban Hiker

dunkman wrote:

... so while your idea is altruistic and Utopian.. 95% of the populace just aint gonna buy it... which is ironic as they'll buy pretty much anything else

LOL. Seriously, thanks for the laugh. It's so true.

BTW, I don't have kids, leaving me with an extra soft spot for those trees with the tags from kids who are asking for socks as X-mas gifts. Kids deserve a good Christmas.

dunkman wrote:

that only highlights an inability of your family to handle their finances properly..

And I can't in good conscience be a part of them destroying their financial future. I had to bow out things with the in-laws too. My mother in-law skips paying all of her bills in December to pay for Hanakkah. It's crazy.

I'm sure there are a good number of people having healthy, happy, financially sound holidays, but there are a lot of folks with bad spending habits caving into commercialism and that's the part that bums me out.

So, again, that's why I bowed out of the family bit to instead enjoy the lights and all of the holiday festivities. I live in the city, so it will be all around me.

pineapplesandwaves

Ms. Haiku wrote:

Oddly enough I just started to listen to my Christmas CDs this morning

I love the holiday season! I love the potential joy, the inspired calm of the winter solstice, the lights, the beauty, the vacation days . . .


When I hear people complain about all the gifts they have to buy I think they lost something along the way. It's the season of wonder and fattening foods to be enjoyed!

I love the holiday season, too, and for similar reasons as you. Christmas has always been a huge event for my family. I have so many incredible memories of Christmas - watching Christmas movies, putting on the Christmas music, trekking in four feet of snow to get a Christmas tree, decorating the house and tree, playing Christmas carols on the piano, Christmas baking, etc. ... all as a family. I loved my Christmas traditions as a child, and I continue them now that I'm grown up.

nuffingman

Ms. Haiku wrote:

*blush* Thanks!

You want to know content?! It's all about lying on the floor and just staring at the ceiling fan go around and around and around. Now, there's contentment for ya! (I know this personally )

:eek: Do you put something odd in those cakes you bake?

soulsinging

Heineken Helen wrote:

in our family we love buying gifts... if ever one of us is broke though we just apologise in advance and say we're not gonna be able to get much this year... and that's fine, never been any kinda problem at all. People still spend what they'd normally spend though. I love getting surprises for them though, I've so much fun christmas shopping cos it's all about even thinking about people and what they might like. it's never about the amount but how much thought ya put into it.

another weird diff between men and women. every girl i know LOVES buying gifts for people for xmas. i've never spoken to a guy who was happy about it.

Heineken Helen

soulsinging wrote:

another weird diff between men and women. every girl i know LOVES buying gifts for people for xmas. i've never spoken to a guy who was happy about it.

my brother buys the best pressies... he loves shopping. although most of the men at work get their wives to do it

soulsinging

nuffingman wrote:

I agree with your comments. It's the same over here. Christmas advertising in the shops in September, encouragement to spend more than you can afford. Enormous credit card debts all round. The true meaning has been flushed down the toilet in exchange for making a few quid or dollars.

And I'm sorry but the US really pisses me off regarding Christmas. 25 December is Christmas day so that time of year is Christmas. When I was in the States for Christmas in 2002 all we heard was "happy holidays" wherever we went. So some people aren't christians but why should it not be mentioned because of them. Fuck 'em, they don't hide the names of their religious festivals. :mad:

christmas day is christmas. but the hooplah surrounding it is the holidays. there are about 6 in a one-month span. so happy holidays is plenty accurate and the celebrations formerly tied only to chrismtas (trees and santa, etc) have become completely secular. rudolph, frosty, etc are just part of american culture and have nothing to do with any given tradition.

that said, say christmas if you want. i don't care. i say happy holidays cos i don't know what holiday they're going to be celebrating and im wishing THEM a happy whatever holiday they celebrate, not the one i do. the analogy i used before was birthdays... you don't wish peope happy birthday on YOUR birthday becos that's what you celebrate. you acknowledge THEIR birthday and wish them well on it. i feel the same with the holidays around here. but i'd sure as hell not be offended if you wanna wish me merry xmas.

soulsinging

Heineken Helen wrote:

my brother buys the best pressies... he loves shopping. although most of the men at work get their wives to do it

exactly my gf has been buying gifts for months. she sees something while out and thinks "so and so would love this! ill buy it and give it to them for xmas!" i see it and think "i dont want that" and keep walking. she gets very excited about finding a good gift. i hate buying gifts. all i can think is usually "hopefully they won't hate this piece of shit as much as i hated their crappy gift last year."

nuffingman

soulsinging wrote:

christmas day is christmas. but the hooplah surrounding it is the holidays. there are about 6 in a one-month span. so happy holidays is plenty accurate and the celebrations formerly tied only to chrismtas (trees and santa, etc) have become completely secular. rudolph, frosty, etc are just part of american culture and have nothing to do with any given tradition.

that said, say christmas if you want. i don't care. i say happy holidays cos i don't know what holiday they're going to be celebrating and im wishing THEM a happy whatever holiday they celebrate, not the one i do. the analogy i used before was birthdays... you don't wish peope happy birthday on YOUR birthday becos that's what you celebrate. you acknowledge THEIR birthday and wish them well on it. i feel the same with the holidays around here. but i'd sure as hell not be offended if you wanna wish me merry xmas.

Please open on 25 December.

Merry Christmas!