I am quite annoyed with Christmas for your reasons and a few others. In a country riddled with consumer debt, the religious sheen over what has really become a materialistic exercise implies a blessing or a moral imperative to overspend now and suffer later. It's a sick trap laid out for a culture already in the throes of encouraging people to live beyond their means.
Even in light of the commercial boost Christmas gives to the retail economy, the amount of lost productivity in the economy in general is out of control. People have been leaving work early for weeks to get a jump on shopping and this is tolerated, but I get the fish-eye when I leave early for a Passover seder in April. The office partying, hours spent kibbitzing over cookies/candy and coffee while no work gets done, and the general "I'm on vacation" mindset that sets in during the second half of December even when people are in the office amount to a huge loss of productivity but are tolerated anyway. If this is happening at every company around the country, the impact is staggering. But it's all okay, because it's Christmas.
Well excuse me, I'm not a Christian and I frankly just don't get why the Christians get a free pass on all this stuff because "'tis the season" or whatever. The supposed encouragement of diversity is a crock. Only Christmas-folk get away with this stuff, and American businesses are all dolled up with wreaths and trees wherever you go. I'm not asking for menorahs everywhere, because I don't think they belong plastered all over business offices either. And I don't expect tacit approval to shorten my hours so that I can go shop for Hanukkah or bake cookies or whatever. None of it makes any sense to me.
Christmas is pervasive, to the point where literally hundreds of people thoughtlessly wish me a "Merry Christmas" every year. When I complain about this, people tell me I should recognize that well-wishers' hearts are in the right place, but the truth is they're not. If their hearts were in the right place, they would ask me if I am celebrating Christmas before wishing me a happy one. When people find out I'm Jewish, they say silly things like, "but you have a tree, right?" or "but you still celebrate Christmas, don't you" or, worst of all, "Jesus was Jewish, so Christmas is for you, too!" (no lie, I have heard this more than once). It isn't cute, it's thoughtless. But the overall cultural message is, "you're the weird one, because you don't celebrate Christmas." Hundreds of subtle barbs every year, which frankly, I don't see why I should have to tolerate. But I'm accused of being a scrooge if I say anything.
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Date: 2006-12-19 08:19 pm (UTC)Even in light of the commercial boost Christmas gives to the retail economy, the amount of lost productivity in the economy in general is out of control. People have been leaving work early for weeks to get a jump on shopping and this is tolerated, but I get the fish-eye when I leave early for a Passover seder in April. The office partying, hours spent kibbitzing over cookies/candy and coffee while no work gets done, and the general "I'm on vacation" mindset that sets in during the second half of December even when people are in the office amount to a huge loss of productivity but are tolerated anyway. If this is happening at every company around the country, the impact is staggering. But it's all okay, because it's Christmas.
Well excuse me, I'm not a Christian and I frankly just don't get why the Christians get a free pass on all this stuff because "'tis the season" or whatever. The supposed encouragement of diversity is a crock. Only Christmas-folk get away with this stuff, and American businesses are all dolled up with wreaths and trees wherever you go. I'm not asking for menorahs everywhere, because I don't think they belong plastered all over business offices either. And I don't expect tacit approval to shorten my hours so that I can go shop for Hanukkah or bake cookies or whatever. None of it makes any sense to me.
Christmas is pervasive, to the point where literally hundreds of people thoughtlessly wish me a "Merry Christmas" every year. When I complain about this, people tell me I should recognize that well-wishers' hearts are in the right place, but the truth is they're not. If their hearts were in the right place, they would ask me if I am celebrating Christmas before wishing me a happy one. When people find out I'm Jewish, they say silly things like, "but you have a tree, right?" or "but you still celebrate Christmas, don't you" or, worst of all, "Jesus was Jewish, so Christmas is for you, too!" (no lie, I have heard this more than once). It isn't cute, it's thoughtless. But the overall cultural message is, "you're the weird one, because you don't celebrate Christmas." Hundreds of subtle barbs every year, which frankly, I don't see why I should have to tolerate. But I'm accused of being a scrooge if I say anything.
It's a no-win. I'm totally over it.