This might seem odd after the "yay Christmas!" elements of yesterday's post, but I really hate that Christmas is such an in-your-face event, beginning every November. I'm actually something of a Christmas addict: I obsess about finding the perfect present for everyone, bake up a storm, wear a lot of red sweaters and usually continue singing Christmas music well into February. It's my favorite holiday, but its pervasiveness in our society just doesn't seem fair to those who don't celebrate it, which, given the diversity of the American people, is presumably a fairly large minority.
I know that commercial businesses feel the need to use Christmas decorations as a way to entice Christmas shoppers into their stores, but can't the merchandise speak for itself? Scrambling through the aisles of Target yesterday (pre-kitchen time), I was way too busy concentrating on not stepping on small children, avoiding their parents' carts and elbows and keeping my eyes open for the elusive Lucky the Wonder Pup I was on a mission to find for my niece (who, fortunately for me, is too young to read this blog!) to even notice the store's décor. And I would have bought the toy there regardless of what the store was decorated for (Eid al-Adha, Hanukkah, the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa...whatever!), because they had the best price for it.
I guess my point on that score is that commerce is commerce and a free market economy is pretty much going to do whatever it's going to do, regardless of what color lights a store has strung up, so why can't they focus on doing something more productive with their holiday profits than buying tinsel and sucking up even more electricity than usual?
On the non-commercial side of things, I get that decorating is a way to express the spirit of the season, which I love - from carolers to those goofy light-up Santas and snowmen people put on their lawns and in their windows. I actually talked my mom into buying a pair of vastly oversized candy canes to flank our front door when I was maybe nine or ten, pestered my dad to find an extension cord long enough to accommodate them and couldn't wait to plug them in every evening (sorry, Mom and Dad...).
But the metro stop closest to my office is decked out in red and green tinsel, my apartment building has two Christmas trees in the lobby and 2-foot-tall nutcrackers flanking the doors and my gym has been playing nonstop Christmas music since last week. Especially in a city with as diverse a population as Washington, how is that okay?
Yes, I appreciate the effort made to spread some Christmas cheer, but during a season that - for those who celebrate Christmas - is all about bringing joy to others and the spirit of giving, how can we justify actions like these that exclude so many? My Hindu and Jewish friends and colleagues are no less deserving of goodwill, peace and happiness than I am, yet there's nothing for them in this flurry of red and green, often not even the token gesture of "Happy Holidays!" in a store window instead of "Merry Christmas!" Isn't it bad enough that they spend Christmas Day on the outside looking in on a society that's almost completely shut down for the holiday, without adding the insult of a month and a half beforehand when they're made to feel isolated from the rest of the country?
On a personal level, celebrating with decorations and music is one of the best things about a holiday - it fosters togetherness for friends and family and gives us a reason to spend a little more time with the people we love. But that celebration should remain personal - it shouldn't be a societal free-for-all of "Merry Christmas, everyone! - unless you don't celebrate Christmas, in which case go away and don't bother us until it's over. We'll start bugging you to take a more active (fiscal) role in society again on December 26th. Thanks. Bye."
In the 21st century, we should certainly be capable of wishing people peace, joy, love and grace without tying it to one religious holiday. And I think we owe it to one another to do so.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
I feel like Christmas isn't really associated with its religious origins anymore for most people. You see tons of Santas and reindeer and snowmen but how many baby Jesuses and crosses do you see around as decorations? Not too many. I think it's just part of the American culture, and whether you celebrate Christmas or not it's just a fun part of the month of December. I could care less about the actual holiday - in fact I hate Christmas because it's stressful as all holy hell - but every year I nearly cry with happiness when Starbucks busts out their red snowflake cups. And I've never met one Jewish or other person who felt oppressed by Christmas decorations, it's not like it's insulting or anything, and it's not like the decorations are trying to persuade you to celebrate Christmas.
Stop thinking so much and enjoy!!!! But don't get tangled in any tinsel!
Indeed, Christmas has become commercial in our society. And we don't see many things to remind of us of the Christian traditions besides the Nativity scene every now and then (and those are almost always near a Menorah anyway). Christmas is about retailers trying to make their sales goals at the end of the year. They play Christmas music because studies have shown that people feel more liberal about their money when Christmas music is playing because for some reason they feel generosity applies at the purse as well as the pews. Oh well, soon it will all be over and people will still be at the malls exchanging gifts and redeeming gift cards.
agreed. after working in a clothing store last christmas season, i learned that a HUGE portion of the year's profits come in during november and december (especially that horrid, awful day- black friday) and the decorations are up not to celebrate st. nick or jesus or any peace/love/hope/joy aspect of the holiday. they are simply to remind you that you haven't finished your gift shopping so maybe you should get an extra sweater or another bottle of lotion or grab some jewelry and spend spend spend (of course, because that's how merry christmases are made). free markets don't work as well if people don't remember that there are things out there they have to buy! ;)
but those are the ceos talking... and most of the employees are excited to have something different and pretty to get to put up for decorating/store cleaning time so early in the am. (and i no longer spend my days selling people things, so i no longer have to be bitter about it!) i figure we just all enjoy the twinkling lights, the excuse to put egg nog in our hot chocolates and the festive cookies those awesome people bring in to work.
Blame it on the day job! The commercial aspects of Christmas and the way it pervades our society completely has always annoyed me, though. Gina and Todd, you might remember how Savon - the one by Ralph's, in MB - used to decorate so insanely for Christmas every year, and that always drove me nuts. And I remember, even as a little kid, being annoyed by signs that said "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays." Maybe it is overthinking things, or not considering that we need to be reminded of what we "have to have" (thanks, Claire ;) ), but it just feels like such a commercialization of Christmas, and the exclusion of those who don't celebrate it, flies in the face of everything that's supposed to be embodied by the Christmas spirit.
Post a Comment