Wednesday, December 18, 2002
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Wednesday, December 18, 2002 |
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All I want for Christmas . . .
By
BILLY MURPHY Remember the simpler days of "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"? Well, with everything today just short of prenatal orthodontics, getting just two teeth for Christmas is a naive notion. Our "gotta have it all" attitudes seem to be worse than ever. The quaint days of caring and unselfishness during 9/11 seem like a lifetime away now. It's not that I am complaining about the commercialism of Christmas like everyone else. That is too easy a mark, and I am actually a believer of "anything worth doing is worth overdoing." It's just that we buy into it all and aren't enjoying it. We as a people are so childlike in understanding of happiness that we continually jump at every offer that promises that holiday spirit, with just three easy payments. We are like a dog watching potato chips being passed around the room, waiting for our chance to jump at that crunchy, salty taste! I love the holiday spirit. I love that the parking lots are crowded and people are buzzing to and fro. I love that it has actually been cold enough to remind us that Christmas is a holiday not intentioned for shorts. I even love that my regular movie trips are now crowded with kids out of school for the season. But, come on, let's see some smiles. Let's see some cheer. This Christmas stuff should not be so much work. Because adult America has become an immature, peer-based nation, we can't be happy until we have followed every rule of how to impress all the people we know, we don't know, that don't know us, that don't care about us and we don't care about them. Everyone tells us how it's "supposed to be." You gotta have the right tree, you gotta have it the right size, the right color. Now decorate it with the right bulbs bought from the right store. It has to be set up at just the right time, in the right way, at the right angle. Now look at your tree. Do you see some point or significance? Or, are you just imagining all those people, wondering what they would think, how impressed they would be with your taste, decorum and cash flow. It's like everyone of us when making a decision, has 20 other people in our pockets persuading us. I can't buy that, my neighbor will think I am cheap. I can't buy this, my boss might be offended by its religious significance. I have to get that, Marge said it was so "in." I have to get this, no self-respecting suburbanite would be caught dead without one. Mom would be impressed with this, Dad would "hate" that, so I, for sure, am going to get it. Even then, if that's the way we all wanted it, I would say more power to ya. But I don't see anyone having any fun following these rules of engagement. The more we "do" to try and show our Christmas spirit, it seems the less we really enjoy it. So, slow down. You don't have to make every party. You don't have to get every thing just right. Any happiness that has been based on how "right" you make the holidays is a fake happiness anyway. Any happiness that has been based on the true meaning and spirit of Christmas, now that is a real happiness. [Visit Billy Murphy in hyperspace at www.ebilly.net.]
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