Something about Christmas
By Robin Lamb
@troyburns (1405)
New Zealand
December 23, 2015 6:22pm CST
School holidays and Christmas preparations mean there's not been a lot of time for scribbling my usual nonsense lately, and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms. So here's a quickie post about Christmas which uses the word Christmas many times, 'cause someone has to beat back the relentless tide of anti-Christmas sentiment which threatens to sweep away one of our most treasured institutions. By which I mean Christmas.
So bah humbug to you Starbucks for crushing the souls of Christmas lovers everywhere. Bah humbug to you overly sensitive schools and councils which have decided to wish everyone a happy holidays instead of saying Happy Christmas. And bah humbug to that handful of overly cynical atheists who want to vanish every nativity scene and Christmas tree. You're missing the point, you morons. I hope Santa completely forgets about you, though you probably think he's only a mythical being too.
We'll be having a fairly quiet Christmas this year, if that's at all possible with an excited seven-year-old on the loose. My daughter and her boyfriend will also be visiting tomorrow morning so I need to brave the wilds of the nearby supermarket shortly to stock up on Christmas brunch and dinner vittels. Hopefully the weather will stay fine so we can crank up the barbeque and little Dom can play with the outside toys he doesn't know about yet.
Here's hoping you have a wonderful day tomorrow and get to see a few of the people you care about most. Don't eat and drink too much,and don't forget to say Happy Christmas to everyone you see. They really won't mind. And if they do,just tell 'em bah humbug.
15 people like this
14 responses
@GreatMartin (23672)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
26 Dec 15
I hate to see Christmas end and people going back to being their mean selves--unlike you and I who are rays of sunshine to all around us!!!
7 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
26 Dec 15
@GreatMartin- So true. It's hard work being nice all the time, but someone has to do it!
5 people like this
@TheHorse (220081)
• Walnut Creek, California
27 Dec 15
@troyburns Folks were actually boldly saying Merry Christmas at Kaiser this past Tuesday. I was pleasantly surprised.
3 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
27 Dec 15
@TheHorse - Yuletide felicitations to you too. Hope you had a good one. I had fun saying "Happy Christmas" to folks down the street, no matter what their background. Even the Iraqi guys who cut my hair were very good-natured about it.
4 people like this
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
26 Dec 15
Season's Greetings to you & yours!
Oh, what the heck, wishing you a Merry Christmas then - & many more to come!
Oh, what the heck, wishing you a Merry Christmas then - & many more to come!3 people like this
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
27 Dec 15
@troyburns Adelaide, South Australia. Yes, it's hot & we have no air-con!
2 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
26 Dec 15
@veganbliss - Thanking you. Which part of Oz are you in? Hopefully it's not too hot for you over Christmas.
2 people like this
@jillybean1222 (6407)
•
30 Dec 15
I've been definitely eating and drinking too much. I've made the most of the holiday season the last several days & will probably do so for the next several more.
2 people like this
@jillybean1222 (6407)
•
30 Dec 15
@troyburns I wasn't needing the bumblebee cutout, as i had lost a little weight in november, but i think i may have destroyed all that in the last week.... yikes. :-)
2 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
30 Dec 15
@jillybean1222 - Is there a chance you won't need that bumblebee cutout in the next few days?
2 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
27 Dec 15
@just4him - It was quite cool and overcast on Christmas day but we were able to set up Dom's basketball and totem tennis sets. And yes, we did fire up the barbeque too, though we ate indoors!
3 people like this
@just4him (317249)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
27 Dec 15
@troyburns It sounds like your weather isn't much different than ours. I know you're in summer while we're in winter. The planet is just a bit mixed up on what kind of weather we're supposed to have, though I think it got it's act together with the winter storm heading our way.
3 people like this
@paigea (36316)
• Canada
24 Dec 15
First of all Merry merry Christmas to you and yours.
I am an atheist. I will be with the Buddhist side of my family for Christmas. I will say Merry Christmas and so will they. But Happy Holidays has been a part of my vocabulary for 60 odd years as well. Nothing to do with political correctness, just good old fashioned good manners to consider others.
3 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
24 Dec 15
@paigea - I'm an atheist too, but this time of year will never be anything other than Christmas for me. By all means say Happy holidays if that suits you better - I think the only harm in that comes from people who insist that everyone should think as they do.
3 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
30 Dec 15
@salonga - Good to hear that Christmas was a fun time for your family. There wasn't much noise in our little town, although a couple of people did set off a few leftover fireworks.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
27 Dec 15
Oh, was it Christmas? I wondered what all the fuss was about. 
2 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
30 Dec 15
@arthurchappell - Yes it was. My first clue was all the winter motifs here in sunny New Zealand.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
30 Dec 15
@troyburns I tried avoiding Christmas as usual but it was everywhere - glad it is almost over for a year soon
2 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
30 Dec 15
@jstory07 - I did Judy. Just immediate family and my daughter's boyfriend.
1 person likes this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
24 Dec 15
@jaboUK - I think Santa has chosen a few things he's really going to like! I won't be seeing mum or our Australian family but hopefully I'll have the chance to catch up wih my sister and nieces. Have a good one.
2 people like this
@Missmwngi (12915)
• Nairobi, Kenya
24 Dec 15
A happy Christmas to you and may you have a good time with your daughter and the boyfriend
2 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
24 Dec 15
@Missmwngi - Happy Christmas to you and yours, Margaret. Hoping it is a loving time for you all.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
27 Dec 15
We say Merry Christmas where I live, and not Happy Christmas. By the way, Starbucks did not remove Christmas symbols from their cups. They removed snowflakes. The last time I looked, snowflakes had nothing to do with religion. They are a symbol of winter, which was in short supply in the U.S. at Christmas this year. But, unlike the PC crowd, I say Merry Christmas to all, and not Happy Holidays. The look I get back is often priceless.
2 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
30 Dec 15
@ElizabethWallace - This isn't a problem we have here, at least that I've noticed. Kiwis celebrate Chinese New Year, St Patrick's Day and the Maori festival Matariki, so why shouldn't Christmas be for everyone too? The Starbucks "controversy" was a farce IMO. There hasn't been anything remotely religious on the cups for years. Mind you, I find the whole idea of the 'War on Xmas' ridiculous.
2 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
30 Dec 15
@troyburns There is no war on Christmas. There might be a war on logic though.
2 people like this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
30 Dec 15
@JudyEv - Is there much of this PC nonsense in Oz these days? I don't remember anything of it when we lived there a few years ago.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (341752)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Dec 15
@troyburns I don't think it's too bad really but we're never out and about much to know. I found going to Melbourne that those we met - taxi drivers, man looking after breakfasts in the guest-house - were all happy to talk about race issues, dark and light skin, etc in a way we wouldn't have once.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
27 Dec 15
I started to wish merry Christmas rather than " happy,Xmas " with a nudge to jollity and festive communality.
It would be a shame to see nativity plays disappear completely , they are often to funny and touching, but they are declining
1 person likes this
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
30 Dec 15
@Auntylou - I suppose "merry" is more commonly used here too, but for some reason I've always said "happy Xmas". I don't ever recall seeing a school nativity play - except on Christmas movies.
1 person likes this
