There are a few things that have been really pissing me off lately and I need to write them down somewhere.
WTF. It feels like Christmas has finally imploded from the weight of itself. Everywhere I turn people I know are saying "Ugh. I really hate Christmas". Either that or they are telling me to remember The Reason for the Season. Here's the deal, folks, Christmas is exactly what we make it. We've built our collective expectations up so high that our entire society can no longer squeeze out an ounce of joy.
I personally have obsessed over buying just the right gift, making everyone's favorite cookies/treats, planning the perfect visit with my family, achieving the perfectly decorated gifts/tree/home. I've slowly given all that up. But I used to try to make it perfect. And the endless Christmas specials on t.v., weeks of Christmas music on the radio, the asinine yard decorations? Do you have to have Mickey and Goofy in an f-ing house sized snow globe? Dude, they live in Florida and California. No snow.
I think my compadres are fed up with the blatant consumerism and religiosity that hijacked what should be a peaceful celebration of a particular time of year. And if I don't want to bake cookies or waste electricity on decorations, I shouldn't feel bad about it.
Also, I'm just about fed up with this righteous indignation from people claiming there is a "War on Christmas". From my vantage point, the only war that's going on is the war being waged on my freakin' checkbook this time of year. If you want to say Merry Christmas, say Merry Christmas. If I prefer to be inclusive in my greetings and say Season's Greetings, what's it to you? Just because a particular religion decided to co-opt a centuries old seasonal celebration for their own edification doesn't mean that that religion now has exclusive rights to the month of December.
And who cares if African Americans want to celebrate Kwanzaa? What's the big freakin' deal? Sure it might be a manufactured holiday....hello? Do Christians REALLY think that Jesus of Nazarath was born on December 25th? If you think Kwanzaa is stupid, don't celebrate it. But shut up about it. I don't hear Jews or Muslims railing about the fictitious birthday party we call Christmas.
What's with white people who say it's black people's fault that there's racism? I've read several things lately in my little corner of the world where some middle class white person wonders what would happen if white people had NAAWP. Um, we have that, it's called the Ku Klux Klan...or Congress. And I even heard one lady say "Why, MY neighborhood is a great example of how there is really no racism. I mean, we have a block party with black people, white people, an Indian family..." wow, that's amazing. Throw in some lesbians and some Jews and you've got the fucking United Nations of Peoria. What if your daughter came home and said she was going to marry a black guy? What if your son said he wanted to marry his Mexican fraternity brother? Yeah. Didn't think so.
When white people say things like that, I just want to scream. I want to say to them that their ignorance, obliviousness, blindness and xenophobia aren't helping. If you think life is fine and dandy, good for you. Shut up about it. If you don't think there's a problem, lucky you. Go home. Have a block party. Just please stay out of the way of the rest of us. Okay?
One more thing. What the hell is with the Republican party? A Mormon? A baptist preacher? Of course religion shouldn't be an issue, but it sure as hell BECOMES an issue when you wave your faith flag and hold it up as a reason we should vote for you. Don't they see how completely stupid America looks to the rest of the world?
I feel like the US is the cool high school kid who got sick and puked at a party last Saturday night. He thinks he keeps getting invited to the party because he's soooo cool. But really the other kids just want to see him hurl again.
I hope, hope, hope that the preacher wins the nomination because I can't wait to see how quickly he's taken out of the game. It'd be like if some Muslim Cleric was running for Prime Minister of Canada, we'd all go "What the...?" ...that's what the rest of the world sees when they read about this guy.
I know there's more stuff that was bugging me, but I can't remember anymore. It just feels good to purge the bilge from my brain.
WTF. It feels like Christmas has finally imploded from the weight of itself. Everywhere I turn people I know are saying "Ugh. I really hate Christmas". Either that or they are telling me to remember The Reason for the Season. Here's the deal, folks, Christmas is exactly what we make it. We've built our collective expectations up so high that our entire society can no longer squeeze out an ounce of joy.
I personally have obsessed over buying just the right gift, making everyone's favorite cookies/treats, planning the perfect visit with my family, achieving the perfectly decorated gifts/tree/home. I've slowly given all that up. But I used to try to make it perfect. And the endless Christmas specials on t.v., weeks of Christmas music on the radio, the asinine yard decorations? Do you have to have Mickey and Goofy in an f-ing house sized snow globe? Dude, they live in Florida and California. No snow.
I think my compadres are fed up with the blatant consumerism and religiosity that hijacked what should be a peaceful celebration of a particular time of year. And if I don't want to bake cookies or waste electricity on decorations, I shouldn't feel bad about it.
Also, I'm just about fed up with this righteous indignation from people claiming there is a "War on Christmas". From my vantage point, the only war that's going on is the war being waged on my freakin' checkbook this time of year. If you want to say Merry Christmas, say Merry Christmas. If I prefer to be inclusive in my greetings and say Season's Greetings, what's it to you? Just because a particular religion decided to co-opt a centuries old seasonal celebration for their own edification doesn't mean that that religion now has exclusive rights to the month of December.
And who cares if African Americans want to celebrate Kwanzaa? What's the big freakin' deal? Sure it might be a manufactured holiday....hello? Do Christians REALLY think that Jesus of Nazarath was born on December 25th? If you think Kwanzaa is stupid, don't celebrate it. But shut up about it. I don't hear Jews or Muslims railing about the fictitious birthday party we call Christmas.
What's with white people who say it's black people's fault that there's racism? I've read several things lately in my little corner of the world where some middle class white person wonders what would happen if white people had NAAWP. Um, we have that, it's called the Ku Klux Klan...or Congress. And I even heard one lady say "Why, MY neighborhood is a great example of how there is really no racism. I mean, we have a block party with black people, white people, an Indian family..." wow, that's amazing. Throw in some lesbians and some Jews and you've got the fucking United Nations of Peoria. What if your daughter came home and said she was going to marry a black guy? What if your son said he wanted to marry his Mexican fraternity brother? Yeah. Didn't think so.
When white people say things like that, I just want to scream. I want to say to them that their ignorance, obliviousness, blindness and xenophobia aren't helping. If you think life is fine and dandy, good for you. Shut up about it. If you don't think there's a problem, lucky you. Go home. Have a block party. Just please stay out of the way of the rest of us. Okay?
One more thing. What the hell is with the Republican party? A Mormon? A baptist preacher? Of course religion shouldn't be an issue, but it sure as hell BECOMES an issue when you wave your faith flag and hold it up as a reason we should vote for you. Don't they see how completely stupid America looks to the rest of the world?
I feel like the US is the cool high school kid who got sick and puked at a party last Saturday night. He thinks he keeps getting invited to the party because he's soooo cool. But really the other kids just want to see him hurl again.
I hope, hope, hope that the preacher wins the nomination because I can't wait to see how quickly he's taken out of the game. It'd be like if some Muslim Cleric was running for Prime Minister of Canada, we'd all go "What the...?" ...that's what the rest of the world sees when they read about this guy.
I know there's more stuff that was bugging me, but I can't remember anymore. It just feels good to purge the bilge from my brain.
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