My sophomore year of high school, Tim and I did a duet for the holiday concert playing "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Classic stuff, and perhaps even appropriate, considering how I'm starting to hate this time of year. Yeah, part of it's the Mom factor; this'll be the sixth holiday season without her and it's really hard. But that's not the only thing that gets me.
There's such a horrid waste in it all. How much energy is used to keep those ten bazillion little lights glowing, especially when now some people start putting them up in October? How many trees have to die so we can send millions of cards to people we may or may not even like, and wrap presents in pretty paper? How ironic is it that the presents often get put underneath another dying tree?
One plus side to this is the whole "spirit of the season." But that begs the question: why does it have to be a seasonal thing? Would it kill us to have a spirit of goodwill all year round? Not to mention people who pervert and manipulate this "spirit" to their own advantage --- again, tons of other tangents could come from this.
And, of course, the commercial factor. There's nothing wrong with the gift-giving per se, but religious meanings aside, aren't the holidays --- Christmas, Chanukkah, Bodhi Day, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, Yule, whatever you fancy --- supposed to be about family and love and peace and good tidings et cetera? So why the emphasis on the stupid material crap? Yes, let's manipulate the warm, fuzzy feeling of the season to boost our bottom line! Deck the malls with retail avarice! Peace on Earth, good will toward Mastercard! The palpable greed is downright nauseating.
Maybe I should paint my skin green and move up to the mountains for the next week until the madness is over.
