A Thread For Those Of Us Who Don't Like Christmas

An Riabhach

Hi.

I just thought I'd create a thread for anyone who dislikes Christmas for whatever reason or for no reason, a safe space for us without any criticism or judgement.

Even as a child I didn't like it. We had absolutely nothing, could barely even afford a Christmas tree, had to listen to neighbours kids and classmates boasting about their great new toys and presents, and worst of all there was nothing but fighting and arguing amongst the family.

And now as an adult, I dislike it even more.....a big part of that is because of my job as a supermarket assistant, the mayhem,the long days,the endless abuse and the lack of any quality time off at this time of year. And that's even without mentioning the expense of it all. I just never enjoyed this time of year and I never will.

Please feel free to comment on your dislike of Christmas here, because I know that there are more who feel the same as me.

Please note that this thread is only for people who just do not like Christmas, and not for anyone who wants to contradict, criticise and judge us for not liking it. If you like Christmas and want to spread happiness and joy, please go to another thread and not here.

exiledawaynothere

fully respect your views - working in retail must be really difficult especially listening to 8 weeks of Christmas music and dealing with stressful people shopping for Parma ham and smoked salmon. Turning to the positive - what holiday do you like?

Redjacketboy

I get it completely. Goes on too long, costs a fortune and it can be lonely!

I do love the chocolate though!

Mundo7976

If i didn't have kids I wouldn't be partaking at all. From the first hint of a sh!tty song in October to the wanton wastefulness of January 'sales' it's 3 months of crazy greed. There's definitely no such thing as spirit as it should be when it comes to Christmas, not for the last 30 years anyway, at least.

BK5

This is the Christmas thread, it's set up for people who like Christmas. It's written in the charter, think this is more suited to After Hours.

Smell the glove

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058384715/a-thread-for-those-of-us-who-dont-like-christmas

You will be haunted by three spirits. Expect the first tomorrow when the clock tolls 1.

ferpederine

"Please don't come here if you don't like Christmas", they say in the Christmas forum….

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122964976#Comment_122964976

Absolutely this, this thread goes against the forum charter and would be more suited for AH.

Locked pending moving to AH.

HildaOgdenx

Mod - reopened.

whisky_galore

The insults, the judgement.

If you're not into the waste and conspicuous consumption, you're automatically branded a grinch or Scrooge.

Spanish Eyes

Once my parents died, that was the end of Christmas for me anyway. Their house was centre of operations and I have nothing but great memories of the Christmas Day gatherings over the years.

It just isn't the same anymore and I tolerated different variations of the theme for a few years. Great extended family bond and we see each other regularly throughout the year so Christmas gatherings are not vital.

Kids are in different parts of the planet and Summer is the time we see them mostly which is great. Far too expensive to get back for a day of turkey and ham!

So after many deliberations, us two fecked off to Southern Spain last Christmas for a couple of weeks. Lucky to be able to do it, I know. OMG I hope never again to spend Christmas in Dublin/Ireland. I don't have to spell it out, but it is low key, warm and different and no stressy consumerism and hype. Heading off again in a few days for similar. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Cluedo Monopoly

I have always loved Xmas but the commercialism has completely taken over. Also people are so rude in traffic and in shops at this time of year. It's actually disgusting at times. The spirit of Xmas is disappearing.

I saw headlines like "11 days to save Xmas" etc all because of the Holyhead damage - it just hammered home the shallowness of it all.

Strumms

we’d all go away for Christmas but my old man is against it. He prefers being here with and for his side of the family….which he has been all his life. … my mother would as she’s said go in a heartbeat… I think as she’s getting a bit older the whole effort in that short time of all the shopping, meal preparation, entertaining etc has lost or is losing its appeal. But my old man in some sense is a traditionalist and goes visiting x person on such a day at such a time, y person…..and Christmas it’s all scripted and scheduled. He loves being near or around his own family, going visiting and being visited, nice in one way, bit over needy in another…

The mother was like “hey just let’s get on a plane,, go somewhere, someone else can worry about the cooking, cleaning up, making beds, it’s not going to be freezing…” even the idea of a hotel here was proffered where everything served up, food, entertainment. But he’s not budging, which is unfortunate and I think unfair as the effort my mother goes to is substantial.. she’s getting on, I know she’s ready just to hang up the kitchen utensils at Christmas and go get waited on somewhere, I think next year I’ll be a bit more proactive and book it myself, early and just say “we are going……”

Too busy and too much hassle here too. You have to shop early.

silliussoddius

We need some kind of festivus for the rest of us.

BrianD3

Christmas is for children and people who have family that they get on with. If you don't have family or have a toxic one ( alcoholics, domestic abusers) then Christmas can be a horrific time. If you rely on (shut) health and social care services or are a carer for someone who does, it's very bad.

I'm not sure which is worse - always disliking Christmas as per the OP or liking it when you are child and having it turn into misery as you get older

Also, normie idiots become even more idiotic at this time of the year. E.g. people who don't go to Mass all year but never miss the fashion show and gossip extravaganza that is Christmas Eve night Mass. Then there are the inane conversations about "have you your Christmas shopping done yet", whose child is playing Jesus in the school nativity play, getting giddy about the prospect of a White Christmas, "ties for the childer", the fcukin Toy Show, January sales, whinging about being broke in January, "I'm doing Dry January this year" - awful banal tripe.

I absolutely love Christmas but this has made me understand how much of a painful time it is for those who have endured great difficulties, like bereavement, illness, childhood trauma, poverty, family issues.

And no matter how much you love Christmas, the level of consumerism is totally deranged. Working in retail or e-commerce must be hideous.

I wish all of you, who struggle at this time of year, a relaxed Christmas night and day at least, and I hope those of you who have to work for it get some time off as soon as possible when things quieten down.

Glaceon

I’ve grown to dislike Christmas myself, at least the lead-up to it. We have no kids but even then, it turns us both into balls of stress and panic attacks. It also starts way too early now, I don’t want to be hearing anything about it before December!

JupiterKid

It's really sad to hear of posters who had deeply dysfunctional childhoods marred by domestic violence, abuse, addiction and poverty (all of these closely intertwined) recall very unhappy Christmas times of past.

Alcohol in particular has ruined so many Christmas events for so many people, especially in Ireland where it has been a scourge on our modern history.

I thankfully had a largely happy and secure childhood with parents who loved me and I loved Christmas - I loved the festive spirit, but as I get older and more of my loved ones who shared many happy Christmases past are now gone, it becomes less festive each year.

It just isn't the same as it used to be once your parents are gone - and then your siblings too. I know that many others share that sentiment.

The sad fact is that as we lose our loved ones over time, we miss them especially keenly at Christmas and other occasions.

The commercial hype around Christmas is truly obnoxious now - and people are so very gullible for being taken in by it - and are very stressed out by it too. Also this toxic pushing by the media that we "must" all be jolly at Christmas or else we are miserable Scrooges - the reality is much more complex and nuanced.

I still enjoy the festive spirit to a certain extent. But one thing I've learned in recent years is not to get stressed over Christmas all that much - and I am all the better for it.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122969161#Comment_122969161

Excellent post.

I still like Christmas though a lot less than I used to. It feels like much less of a thing here in the UK. Where I am in London, maybe one in ten houses has some kind of decoration up.

I'm single and have no children so when I go home, I feel a bit in the way. It's not the end of the world or anything but nobody has much to say to me so it's more of a standard holiday than a special time.

I absolutely despise the commercialisation of the thing though. Didn't have much growing up but my Mum always worked hard to make sure we got a good day out of it and she always succeeded. Now, it just seems to be about buying tat. Haven't seen them this year but in the past few summers, there'd be ads at Baker Street tube station for a service where you could pay so much a month for the Christmas presents and I found that utterly depressing. I'll grab my Mum an M&S voucher and some Disney stuff for my wee nieces and that's plenty.

buried

Indoctrination sauce. Do what everybody else is doing and do it right now. Make sure you watch the big brand corporate Christmas adverts where everybody is splurging on everything and anything - Then, when the 27th of December rolls around the television adverts revert to a woman literally drowning/hanging in her own grey dark kitchen, asking her and you, the audience - "ahh did you loose the financial run of yourselves the last month of indoctrination sauce? What were ye f**king at?"

Bluebell woods

what the hell???

Bluebell woods

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122970282#Comment_122970282

I know exactly to a tee, how you are feeling …

Surplus to requirement if you are single

Other siblings don’t know what to do with you

I’m home alone this Christmas…

Was talking earlier today to my family members about the dinner

Not one invite

Tin Foil Hat

The Feast of Waste and Clutter. I hate it. A pile of unwanted crap going out. A pile of unwanted crap coming in. The same movies. The same songs. The same dinner. Every single year. It goes on for months and it gets worse every time i have to go through it. And there's no getting away from it without outing yourself as a massive oddball. And it's so dark. It's oppressive.

Everyone hates January. I love January. There's a noticeable amount of light back in the sky, and christmas is as far away as possible.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122975523#Comment_122975523

Added to ignore list.

LambshankRedemption

Since my parents passed, and Ive no kids, Christmas lost its appeal. I had planned to go away this year but my circumstances changed. So, I have downloaded a huge amount of comedy shows and movies I like. I didn't want to emulate a turkey dinner for one kind of meal so instead I'm roasting a duck(probably my favourite meat).

We had a tradition of always watching The Great Escape, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Casablanca during Christmas so those three are obviously on the list. My personal tradition is to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol(I suppose to remind myself not to turn completely into Scrooge. Although the Blackadder Christmas Carol teaches a very different lesson.

I bought a living Christmas tree which Im hoping will arrive tomorrow. The idea being, once Christmas is over i can put it on my balcony as a regular tree.

It seems to start earlier every year. There really is no need for it to last the full month of December.

StevenToast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122975439#Comment_122975439

You dont know how lucky you are.

Enjoy doing whatever you want. I

whisky_galore

There's something really wrong when people get so wound up by a handful of days in the year they go into debt to moneylenders over it.

Badly Drunk Boy

This thread reminded me of a song, so I decided to search for it on YouTube. The song is Hang Myself From The Tree by The Vandals, but after being lazy and truncating my search to 'Vandals hang myself', YouTube actually came back with this result, which I wasn't really expecting:

After putting in the full name, I got the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9grtEZYkVI

My friend who lives near my parents is spending Christmas alone and looking forward to it. I can't let on to my parents or they'll drag him out of his house. 😆

And they mean it out of kindness - it doesn't make sense to them that anyone could be content alone on Christmas day, but he can't wait! I suppose the difference is: he does have the choice to spend it with friends/his siblings and their families a few hours away, he's just choosing to have the day to himself. Certainly a far cry from having no option but to be alone on 25th December.

An Riabhach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122975523#Comment_122975523

If we are too miserable for you then go somewhere else.

ottolwinner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122975997#Comment_122975997

will you manage to keep it quiet and not mention it to your parents?