Obsolete

Today is the 1st of December. As I walked along the street earlier, one person greeted a friend by saying "Merry Christmas!". He wasn't being ironic. They were putting the Christmas trees up on the buildings around the town as well, ready to light them up with the gaudy lights that for around a month illuminate the night sky, before we pack them away for another year.

As a child, I didn't celebrate Christmas, thanks to my parents religious beliefs. Maybe that's why I've come to hate this time of year. Maybe it's because of the way a single day has become hyped up into being the ultimate day of fun, joy and family harmony. We base the whole day around the myth of a man who comes down the chimney to deliver presents to the good little children of the world. Others will remind us that it's about the birth of a savior, a child that would light up the whole world and give hope to those everywhere.

In reality, the day has long since lost any meaning. Some shopping malls have had their decorations up since the beginning of November. To many, Christmas is when the businesses make their biggest profits, as parents splash their cash on little Junior and give into his ever whim. The reality of this is that most will put it all on their credit cards and forget about it, or at least try to. It's no wonder that the country is facing a crisis over the huge amount of people with negative equity.

Away from the spending, we are engulfed with songs by one hit wonder bands that we never heard of again. It's the same stuff every year, played and then retired. The adverts on TV also start around mid-November time. This year we're being encouraged by Kerry Katona to spend spend spend at Iceland. Tesco, with their arrogant rubbing your nose in it mentality continue to awash the screens with numerous adverts for various products, voiced by feckless celebrities who take the cash and saying nothing else. Then there's Coca Cola, back with another retake of their infamous "holidays are coming" Coke truck adverts, with Santa at the end swigging back a bottle of the sugary brown liquid.

Christmas fills me with misery. It may be because I'm a sour little pessimistic asshole, who can only ever see the glass as half empty instead of half full, but I detest this season with a passion. It's so fake. It leaves those lonely and depressed even more upset with the way their luck has gone rotten. It takes the poor and forces them to lie to their children who don't know any better that they will spend what they can't afford on presents. It takes the country for a month and forces it smile, whether it wants to or not. Those who don't get into the spirit for whatever reason are cast out. Yet every year it gets longer and longer and more drawn out. The build-up intensifies. Nevermind that nearly every Christmas day numerous families break apart as arguments take place and children rebel. Nevermind that all meaning has been stripped away and that it has become a celebration of capitalism and greed and nothing more. Nevermind that it ignores the plight of those forgotten. Nevermind that it makes vast silent majorities of the public deeply uncomfortable. Just think of the children and the joy on their little faces as they open their gifts, eat their turkey and as the family glows with happiness at their perfect little nuclear world.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just sad that my childhood wasn't like that. Maybe I'm sad that I feel deeply alone. Whether it's the former or the latter, fuck christmas.