There’s a Red Green Show segment where the Experts advice panel gets asked a question about how to celebrate Christmas and Dalton, the notorious cheapskate, goes off on a rant about how every Christmas tradition his family wants to do is pagan, so he won’t have any of it. No gift giving, no tree, no mistletoe, no Santa Claus. Just the authentic, original Christmas: big turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
Hell, I do a very stripped down X-mas too… I, however, do so because it was my mom’s favorite holiday when she was alive and despite over a decade since she died it still hurts to even think about celebrating the holiday big without her. I do a really nice family and friends meal, no decorations and gift exchanges with a hard limit of $20 per person.
We do at work! Our pole is a piece of aluminum lighting grid pipe that I made a stand for out of 2-by-4s. (It also says “this side down” on the bottom, just to be safe.)
One of the many reasons I enjoy celebrating Solstice rather than Christmas. The entire point of pagan solstice is parties and presents – no pretense of anything more needed. It’s dark outside – let’s fuckin’ party.
My family does something small too. Dad’s usually out of the country, so it’s me, my sisters, my sister-in-law, Mrs. Abides, and sometimes my one old friend (though now that her sister’s out, she’s got a standing invite as well), just getting together, having a big home-cooked meal and hanging out. Maybe there’s gifts sometimes, but it’s mostly just about being together.
Mine are smaller than when my mom was alive, but we’ve been visiting her sister at Christmas for a couple of years. Not as all out as my mother used to go, but certainly not small. But probably not this year. At 72, I may be having my first small Christmas.
I had a friend like that growing up, we found out later they were only a couple of bad days away from complete bankruptcy and this was one of the many excuses they used to hide that from everyone. Sometimes real life means having to choose between presents and food.
Traditional Americans (the original settlers and their descendants, I mean) made celebrating Christmas illegal for a couple centuries. You would actually be made to pay a fine if you appeared to be doing anything at all to celebrate it.
It wasn’t until a new wave of immigrants from Europe brought their traditions to the New world that Christmas became celebrated again at all.
Anyone alive today, in the USA, bitching about how Christmas is becoming “less traditional” needs to remember that their “honored traditions” are less than 100 years old… and entirely borrowed from elsewhere.
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There’s a Red Green Show segment where the Experts advice panel gets asked a question about how to celebrate Christmas and Dalton, the notorious cheapskate, goes off on a rant about how every Christmas tradition his family wants to do is pagan, so he won’t have any of it. No gift giving, no tree, no mistletoe, no Santa Claus. Just the authentic, original Christmas: big turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
You had me at Red Green.
Is that from the “Winter of our Discount Tent” special?
Hell, I do a very stripped down X-mas too… I, however, do so because it was my mom’s favorite holiday when she was alive and despite over a decade since she died it still hurts to even think about celebrating the holiday big without her. I do a really nice family and friends meal, no decorations and gift exchanges with a hard limit of $20 per person.
Maybe ToeDad celebrates Festivus?
We do at work! Our pole is a piece of aluminum lighting grid pipe that I made a stand for out of 2-by-4s. (It also says “this side down” on the bottom, just to be safe.)
One of the many reasons I enjoy celebrating Solstice rather than Christmas. The entire point of pagan solstice is parties and presents – no pretense of anything more needed. It’s dark outside – let’s fuckin’ party.
My family does something small too. Dad’s usually out of the country, so it’s me, my sisters, my sister-in-law, Mrs. Abides, and sometimes my one old friend (though now that her sister’s out, she’s got a standing invite as well), just getting together, having a big home-cooked meal and hanging out. Maybe there’s gifts sometimes, but it’s mostly just about being together.
Mine are smaller than when my mom was alive, but we’ve been visiting her sister at Christmas for a couple of years. Not as all out as my mother used to go, but certainly not small. But probably not this year. At 72, I may be having my first small Christmas.
“However, even if he doesn’t want all the free stuff, I do.”
Here I thought he’d atleast be happy with the company of people who prefer to call it Christmas instead of X-mas.
Deck the halls or I’ll deck your face
I had a friend like that growing up, we found out later they were only a couple of bad days away from complete bankruptcy and this was one of the many excuses they used to hide that from everyone. Sometimes real life means having to choose between presents and food.
Traditional Americans (the original settlers and their descendants, I mean) made celebrating Christmas illegal for a couple centuries. You would actually be made to pay a fine if you appeared to be doing anything at all to celebrate it.
It wasn’t until a new wave of immigrants from Europe brought their traditions to the New world that Christmas became celebrated again at all.
Anyone alive today, in the USA, bitching about how Christmas is becoming “less traditional” needs to remember that their “honored traditions” are less than 100 years old… and entirely borrowed from elsewhere.