Well, for many years, Fred and I spent Christmas Eve with a couple whom I met
through the co-op nursery school that Debbie attended. We alternated houses and
always cooked a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner that Fred originally
initiated. Those were lovely times. Much later, my grown children and I and
whatever friend I was with, went out to eat on Christmas Eve. That was OK. But
Christmas Day, after the children were no longer children, was never all that
great.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2019 10:24 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: the holiday season, some thoughts
From my vantage point it appears to me that the main characteristic of
Christmas is that it is a capitalist marketing event. I expect that it is a
religious holiday to a good many, but that has very little impact on me. As a
marketing event, though, it is really annoying to me. I can't go anywhere in
the month of December and most of November without it being pushed on me. I
cannot turn on a television or radio without it being pushed on me. I cannot
read my email without it being pushed on me. And yes, when individuals start
yammering at me about Christmas and I say that I don't do Christmas they
express shock. Sometimes they express pity because they just assume that I am
lonely and isolated and so I don't have anyone to celebrate Christmas with and
then they think I am covering up my sadness by saying that I have no desire to
do Christmas.
___
Carl Sagan
“Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind
and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says
everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the
fallibility of all the human beings involved?”
― Carl Sagan
On 12/22/2019 2:18 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
On other lists, many people are sending, "seasons greetings". My non
existent relationship with Christmas gives me some distance. Of
course, I didn't always feel unrelated. I was married to a man whose
background was Italian Catholic. Even though he was not a practicing
Catholic, he celebrated the holiday and we had children who needed to
feel part of the world and so of course, they celebrated the holiday.
But actually, what we celebrated, was what our fellow members of the
Ethical Humanist Society called, "the Winter Festival" or "winter
solstice". But the holiday involved pressures. It was never a purely
joyful time. I was relieved when, after Fred died and the children
were grown, I could remove myself emotionally, from the whole thing. I
still attended some traditional family get-togethers. I sent and
received greeting cards. But I began, over the years, to see this season in a
very different way than it is represented.
What I see is a holiday, originally a time for religious worship,
turned into a commercial opportunity. For one thing, one is expected
to give monetary gifts to people like the mail delivery person, the
garbage collection people, and when I owned my apartment, all of the
service people in the building. Way back, when banks still gave people
5% compound interest on savings accounts, each year they advertised a
Christmas Club account. One could put money aside all year in order to
have enough to pay for Christmas gifts. The catch was that these
Christmas Club accounts paid no interest at all. The banks got to use
people's money all year without paying them anything. Yet, people were
taken in. People feel a lot of pressure to buy gifts, and to attend
work parties which are usually held in restaurants. All these workers
celebrate together and the restaurants make money. Everyone donates a
gift which they purchase. From October on, there is a concerted effort
to convince people to spend a lot of money for gifts and celebrations
and vacations in order to be part of the Christmas spirit. Every year,
a bunch of books telling stories that take place during the Christmas
season, are released, and people buy them. Christmas is an obsession
and it is also a distraction from one's real life problems, an escape
from troubles. Of course, it isn't always an escape. It's the time
when alcoholics drink more, when lonely people feel more isolated,
when the suicide rate goes up. It's the time when we are reminded, in
case we managed to deny it, that Christianity is the State Religion.
There's the Christmas tree lighting at the White House and there are
similar ceremonies throughout the land. In Westbury, there was a
Christmas tree and a manger scene in front of the Village recreation
center. Everyone asks, "What are you doing for Christmas?" If the
answer is, "Nothing", they're shocked. You get a pass if you give an
explanation like, "I'm Jewish". But that is the only acceptable excuse.
Miriam
