...because I don't like Christmas. It was fun when I was a kid and it was all about presents. My brother and I used to get up at five or six in the morning to open presents. I eventually outgrew it though.
For one thing, I'm not a religious person so I really don't care about the celebration of Jesus and all that. My family has never gone to church at all. To me, it's not worth celebrating.
Having spent a few years working in retail has made me very bitter towards Christmas. It's too commercialized. It's all about buying and spending and stressing over the perfect gift. The stores are too crowded. People are on edge. But mostly, I absolutely HATE the Christmas music. I didn't mind so much when I was younger but after having spent a few holiday seasons listening to it nonstop for four to eight hours at a time, as much as five days a week, it has driven me mad!! It starts mid November. And you hear the same damn songs over and over sung by a hundred different people. I hate how every second artist in the music biz has to make a friggen Christmas album. It's just a lame excuse to sell records because all you have to do is remake older songs and maybe add in a couple of originals. Stupid.
Then there's the gifts. Half the time, I don't know what to get for people. They don't know what to get me either. People complain I'm hard to shop for because I don't give them enough ideas. Excuse me for not wanting much. Some things I'd just rather buy myself anyway because I've made suggestions before and gotten responses like, "Why do you want that?" Don't ask if you're just gonna shoot down my answer. Most of the time, my brother wants expensive stuff so my parents have a hard time making it equal. I just end up feeling guilty for not wanting stuff.
And of course, the family gatherings are unpleasant. We spend Christmas day with my mom's family, which isn't too bad. We go to my Grandma's and my aunt and uncle come and that's it, so it's kinda quiet. My Grandma always has a party before Christmas with some of her relatives. I just like to sit and be quiet until someone starts talking to me. Christmas Eve, we see my dad's relatives and he has a huge family so there's usually a lot of people. They're mostly outgoing and some are a little obnoxious so I really don't fit in. I just sit there quiet, again. The main thing I dread is people asking me what I'm up to. I've been out of school more than two years and I still work in retail so I'm not happy about having to admit that to anyone. I'm completely ashamed of myself so I'd rather people didn't ask me about my life.
Every time November rolls around, I can't wait for January. I just don't care. It's more hassle than it's worth. I could do without it.
