Still a Party Pooper

In case you've been here for awhile, Yes, this does sound familiar. I posted it in 2013, and with a few revisions am posting it again. Because it is still what I believe.

I am resigned that I am not normal, and I am fine with that. What I am not fine with is people acting shocked or scandalized when they learn I do not do life the same as everyone else.

I am not rude about it: when people say, "Merry Christmas!", I smile and say, "Thank you, same to you!" or “Enjoy your holiday!” When people ask if I am ready for Christmas, I smile and say, "Ready as I'll ever be!"

I do not even bother explaining that I do not celebrate Christmas (unless they ask “what plans do you have for Christmas?" In which case I will usually tell them we haven’t decided if we will go skiing or go to the movies.) 

I do not give them a lecture about dubious traditions and the commercialization of quasi-religious practices, nor do I rant about the use of phrases such as "It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas" or "Let's keep Christ in Christmas" being a façade of man-made practices taking the place of what was originally intended to be the celebration of Emmanuel, God with us. (The fact that the date is wrong is not even worth arguing about. People honestly don’t want to hear about the early church’s co-opting of pagan practices.)

Really, what is the point? They would not appreciate my bashing of their cherished traditions any more than I do when they do the same to me. Besides, as I have long said, you do not change people's minds by winning an argument. And I am not so sure I would win any here, because people are comfortable with what is familiar.

I found it to be enough of a challenge to reconcile my own thinking with the revelations about many of our beloved “Christmas traditions”, and I have no reason to expect that anyone else would feel otherwise. And anyway, it has been my observation over the years that tradition so often trumps the truth.

Pre-COVID and the resulting paranoia surrounding being in close proximity with other humans (family, or not), I did my best to compromise and keep peace in my family when it came to celebrating family times. I just asked that we keep the commercial separate from their so-called sacred. In that vein, it was our tradition to exchange gifts and have a family get-together on a day other than 12/25. We started that practice that many years ago (pre-in-laws and pre-grandkids), and we found it to be the least offensive to everyone involved. These days, I am just happy to find a day when we can meet in a parking lot and exchange gifts to be taken home and opened alone. (Talk about "party pooper.”)

But I can still have a little fun with a friend who persists in texting me every year first thing in the morning on 12/25 with "A Merry Christmas to you!" by texting back: "Enjoy your Saturnalia Celebration!"